CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Yingzi Liu, Tsaopei Wei, Han Zhou, Peng Lan and Kexin Yan, Hylands Law Firm
7. Collections 7.1 Legal Status of Collections
9. Artworks and New Technologies 9.1 NFTs A non-fungible token (NFT) is a digital asset based on blockchain technology. Its core characteristics are uniqueness and irreplaceable nature. NFTs are not permitted to circulate as payment tools in China but are instead viewed as a type of digital commodity or a digital mapping of an artwork. The core of legal recog - nition lies in its “certificate” nature: holding an NFT is not equivalent to automatically owning the copyright of the underlying artwork unless otherwise explicitly agreed upon in the transfer contract. 9.2 Counterfeit NFTs While blockchain technology is immutable, regulated domestic digital collection platforms bear a high- intensity pre-audit obligation beyond “notice-and- takedown”. If the underlying content of an NFT is found to involve plagiarism or forgery, the platform can perform a “black hole treatment” (transferring it to an inaccessible address) via smart contract logic, effectively terminating its circulation potential. Indi - viduals who maliciously mint and sell infringing NFTs face copyright infringement liability, and if the amount involved is large and fraud exists, it may constitute the crime of fraud. The legality of NFT circulation must be traced back to the authorisation chain of the underly - ing artwork; any broken authorisation will result in the legal invalidity of the digital asset. 10. Gifts, Donations, Trusts and Inheritance 10.1 Planning for Generational Transfer of Artworks Mature art succession planning has shifted from simple testamentary inheritance to a composite con - figuration. In practice, a “Will plus Agreement plus Inventory” model is typically adopted: first, the asset boundaries are established through a detailed inven - tory (including high-definition images, provenance proof and insurance contracts); second, professional legal or art institutions are designated as managers responsible for physical protection, or family trusts/ charitable foundations are established to shift owner - ship from individuals to legal entities, thereby avoiding
When a collection system demonstrates significant cultural continuity due to its integrity, historical logic or specific themes, it may apply for recognition as a “non-state-owned museum collection” or “protected historical archive”. Once recognised, the collection will receive holistic legal protection, with a ban on arbi - trary split-selling. The government provides support in financial subsidies, professional restoration and bequest tax exemptions, but also restricts the owner’s absolute right of disposal – for example, the state has a right of first refusal during an overall transfer. 8. Photography 8.1 When Are Photographs Protected as Art? The degree of protection for photographic works depends on their originality. Photography consid - ered a “work of art” must reflect the author’s unique aesthetic choices in light and shadow capture, com - position, thematic expression, or post-production/ digital processing. Such works enjoy a full term of copyright protection (life of the author plus 50 years). Additionally, for photographic images with historical documentary value (such as old photos from the late Qing Dynasty), even if the copyright has expired, their attributes as cultural relics are still governed by the Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics, and any com - mercial reproduction or utilisation must follow relevant cultural heritage protection regulations. 8.2 Legal Protection for Different Types of Photographs For “other types of photographic images” that do not possess high aesthetic originality, such as news docu - mentary photos, judicial practice takes a categorised approach. Although their artistic quality is limited, they are still protected by Copyright Law, but the focus of protection is on prohibiting unauthorised commer - cial reproduction. For images generated entirely by machines or those with only functional recording sig - nificance (such as surveillance footage screenshots), the law tends to define them as raw data or digital evi - dence, not granting them the status of a work under copyright law.
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