Can Nordic Extended Collective Licence Be Transplanted to China?

Abstract

Collective Management Organizations' lack of good governance and transparency is incompatible with the Extended Collective License (ECL). The ECL might be unfit for the digital world. National treatment for foreign rightsholders is not guaranteed. The ECL arrangement cannot pass the three-step test. The ECL in the draft of the third amendment of the Chinese Copyright Act may result in an unbalanced competition between Chinese copyright holders and foreign copyright holders. In the online world, the implementation of an ECL may be risk violating international copyright conventions. In light of not only China's poorly established CMC but also Chinese CMOs' lack of good governance, ECLs either should be put on hold (at least for now) or should only be exercised in special cases in which international copyright conventions permit the use of a non-voluntary licence. With regard to the possible abuse of ECLs, this article proposes the establishment of either mandatory international regulations or soft-law guidance.