CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Yingzi Liu, Tsaopei Wei, Han Zhou, Peng Lan and Kexin Yan, Hylands Law Firm
circumstances. Administratively, cultural departments may confiscate infringing reproductions and produc - tion equipment and impose fines. If the infringement constitutes a “crime of copyright infringement” it will
gated to respect the author’s right of authorship and protect the integrity of the work, and may not distort the image without permission. 4. Authentication of Artworks 4.1 Posthumous Rights to Authenticate Artwork The authentication of a work’s genuineness involves both civil rights and academic opinions: heirs have the right to declare that a work did not originate from their predecessor to protect the artist’s reputation and moral integrity; however, such authentication is legally regarded only as expert testimony or a statement. If multiple heirs exist with conflicting opinions, the court typically appoints an independent third-party apprais - al agency and makes a comprehensive determination by referencing the artist’s former assistants, authorita - tive scholars and scientific methods. 4.2 Art Authentication Based on the principle of private autonomy in the Civil Code, a foundation or expert cannot be compelled to include a specific work in a catalogue raisonné , nor can they be forced to issue a favourable certificate of authenticity. No organisation or individual has a legal obligation to recognise a private collection as genu - ine. Forcing an expert to issue a certificate against their academic conscience would not only violate aca - demic freedom but could also mislead the market and constitute fraud against the public. 4.3 Legal Remedies Following a Declaration of Inauthenticity If an artwork is proven to be a forgery after a transac - tion, the buyer has multiple paths for remedy under Chinese law. First, the buyer may claim “significant misconception” under Article 147 of the Civil Code and apply to rescind the contract within the statu - tory period after learning the truth. Second, if it can be proven that the seller knowingly concealed the truth, it constitutes fraud, and the buyer has the right to rescind the contract and seek damages; in law - suits against business operators, punitive damages may even be claimed by reference to the Consumer Rights Protection Law. Additionally, the buyer may claim that the seller breached the warranty against
trigger criminal prosecution. 3.2 Registering Artwork
China’s current art registration system adopts the logic of “voluntary registration and public credit dis - closure”. Copyright registration is handled by copy - right protection centres at various levels and serves as preliminary proof of ownership, possessing strong evidentiary effect in judicial litigation. Furthermore, by 2026, many works in the market use blockchain traceability technology to anchor physical artworks with digital certificates, recording the provenance and The resale right refers to the right of artists and their heirs to share a certain percentage of the transaction price in subsequent commercial resales after the initial sale of the original artwork. This right originated in Europe (eg, France) to compensate for the imbalance between low-priced sales before an artist becomes famous and high-priced circulation afterward. Within the Chinese legal framework, although the resale right is widely discussed in academic and artistic circles, a mandatory resale right system has not yet been fully implemented at the statutory level. Current practice is primarily achieved through contractual autonomy, where artists include “resale royalty clauses” in con - tracts during the first sale. 3.4 Using Copyrighted Images In the Chinese legal environment, using images of copyrighted artworks must follow the principle of “license first, use later”, unless it falls under “fair use” as stipulated in the Copyright Law (eg, personal study, teaching, or news reporting). Licensing typi - cally occurs through several paths: primarily direct licensing via written contracts with the artist or their heirs, specifying the scope, duration, and fees; and secondary licensing through collective management organisations, where users obtain a blanket licence by paying standardised royalties for works registered with such agencies. It is important to note that even with a property right licence, users remain legally obli - transaction history. 3.3 Resale Right
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