China bans foreign companies from publishing creative works online

(Photo by Cory Doctorow)

Are you a foreign company with a book, game, video, or audio recording that you’d like to publish online in China? If so, you’d better get it done by the end of this month, because China’s censors are cracking down with a new law that takes effect starting in March, according to the South China Morning Post.

The new regulation comes from China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television (SAPPRFT), and it will mandate that any foreign company or joint venture looking to publish “creative works” must seek approval from SAPPRFT itself. Publishing companies will also be responsible for self-censoring, and local governments will take an increased role in policing the publication of online content from companies within their jurisdiction.

SAPPRFT has traditionally been a regulator of offline publications, but it has increasingly been flexing its online muscles over the past decade, and occasionally clashing with other censorship organs in China’s government over who has the authority to regulate web content like videos.

In practice, the new regulation isn’t likely to change much beyond adding another hurdle would-be publishers have to jump through, as foreign online “creative” content like video games already has to be approved by the Ministry of Culture before publication. It’s now doing the same with music. It’s not clear yet how SAPPRFT’s regulations will coexist with the Ministry of Culture’s, but it’s probable that publishers will have to seek approval from both bodies before the content can be legally released.

That said, as is the case with all Chinese regulations, until they actually take effect in March it’s impossible to say how thoroughly these new SAPPRFT rules will be enforced.