Localizing comics, reposting films and TV, sharing cloud-drive files and pirated e-books is infringement even without charging; running ads or collecting membership fees can lead to a prison sentence

Cost

Free. What you bought or downloaded is fine to read yourself or translate for fun, just don't post it online for everyone to see. Don't run resource sites or groups that carry ads or collect membership fees, and don't sell cloud-drive links. The hard part is holding back from joining in as a reposter when "everyone is passing it around."

What you get

Civil matters first. Among the rights the Copyright Law (著作权法) gives authors is the right of translation, meaning the right to turn a work from one language into another. There is also the right of communication through information networks, the right to put a work online so the public can see it anytime, anywhere. Translating someone else's work without permission is infringement. Uploading a work online without permission is also infringement. An infringer must stop the infringement and pay damages. Only using another person's already published work for personal study, research or enjoyment needs no permission and no payment. The amount of damages is first calculated from the right holder's actual loss or what you earned. Where neither can be worked out, the court sets it between 500 CNY and 5,000,000 CNY (500万). For deliberate infringement in serious circumstances, 1 to 5 times can be awarded. The reasonable expenses the right holder spent to stop the infringement are also payable by you. Now criminal matters. Criminal Law (刑法) Article 217 requires "the purpose of making a profit." Putting someone else's work online for the public to see, without permission and for profit, is the crime of copyright infringement (侵犯著作权罪) once the threshold is met. The sentence is up to 3 years, with a fine in addition or a fine alone. For a huge amount or especially serious circumstances, 3 to 10 years and a fine. What counts as being for profit: besides selling, putting paid ads on web pages counts, and collecting registration or other fees through a membership system also counts. Service fees, membership fees and advertising fees received all count as illegal gains. The threshold for a crime is met by any one of the following. Illegal gains of 30,000 CNY (3万) or more. Illegal business turnover of 50,000 CNY (5万) or more, which in the Renren Film and TV case was calculated as the total of membership fees, advertising fees and hard-drive sales. A total of 500 or more items (works) of someone else's work spread online. Downloaded 10,000 (1万) times or more, or clicked 100,000 (10万) times or more. Spreading through a membership system with 1,000 or more registered members. If none of these is reached but two of them are each at least half reached, that counts too. At 10 times these numbers it enters the 3 to 10 years tier. The fine is generally 1 to 10 times the illegal gains. Official case 1: Liang Yongping (梁永平) and others downloaded unlicensed films and TV series from overseas websites, organized people to translate and make subtitles, and then uploaded them. These were placed on the Renren Film and TV subtitle group website and client for people to watch online and download. The site held 32,824 unlicensed film and TV works and more than 6,830,000 (683万余) members. From January 2018 to January 2021 it collected more than 2,700,000 (270余万) CNY in membership fees and more than 8,800,000 (880余万) CNY in advertising fees. Selling portable hard drives loaded with films and TV series earned another more than 1,000,000 (100余万) CNY. The site displayed a "donation" QR code, and donating gave membership benefits. The procuratorate found that this was a membership fee under another name. On November 22, 2021, Liang Yongping was sentenced to 3 years 6 months and fined 1,500,000 CNY (150万). Another 14 people were sentenced to between 1 year 6 months and 3 years, all with suspended sentences, and fined 40,000 to 350,000 CNY (4万到35万). Official case 2: Ke Moumou (柯某某) used crawler software to capture the playback addresses of more than 50,000 (5万余) films and TV series and put them on his own website and app for people to watch free. He placed ads on the opening screen, charged by impressions, and earned more than 350,000 (35万余) CNY. In 2023 he was sentenced to 3 years with a 4-year suspension and fined 400,000 CNY (40万). Official case 3: Huang Mou (黄某) rented a server at his own home and built a music download forum. He uploaded more than 100,000 (10万余) songs to 18 cloud drives and posted the links on the forum. Members had to top up to get forum coins before they could obtain links and extraction codes. Members' top-ups totaled more than 500,000 (50余万) CNY. In 2023 he was sentenced to 3 years with a 4-year suspension and fined 550,000 CNY (55万) (China, judicial interpretation in effect since April 26, 2025)

Notes

The beneficiary is you. Buying something and watching it yourself, or translating it for yourself, is within what the statute allows. The line is "putting it online for everyone to see." A subtitle or localization group that charges nothing does not reach the crime of copyright infringement, because that crime requires a purpose of profit. But civil infringement still stands, and the right holder can demand takedown and damages. In Japan, even without charging, it may be an offense. In February 2018 several Chinese citizens in Japan were arrested on suspicion of violating Japan's copyright law, and the Chinese Consulate General in Nagasaki (中国驻长崎总领事馆) then reminded people that translating, posting and spreading works without authorization may be illegal even if not for profit. Once you run ads, open a membership or exchange "donations" for membership benefits, you fall into the for-profit tier. In the Renren Film and TV case, people who only did translation and proofreading had a low level of involvement, and the police took evidence from them as witnesses. The Supreme People's Procuratorate wrote in that case that those who start it, split the money and run the platform are to be pursued more strictly. Hired accomplices can be treated leniently, and those recruited temporarily whose circumstances are minor may be not criminally pursued. The old three intellectual-property criminal judicial interpretations of 2004, 2007 and 2020 were repealed from April 26, 2025. The 2011 opinion of three departments was not named as repealed, and where it conflicts with the new interpretation, the new interpretation prevails. For example, the click threshold changed from 50,000 (5万) to 100,000 (10万). For another risk, publishing or selling fan fiction and derivative works, see §9.25 (writing fan fiction). For printing someone else's images on goods for sale, see §12.21 (buy a license for designs). If you run a platform yourself and receive an infringement notice, see §26.9 (receiving an infringement notice).

Evidence grade

A : Specific numbers from meta-analyses, large cohorts or randomized trials; for law and policy, the statute or official text.

Sources

1. 全国人大常委会 (2020). 著作权法（2020 年修正，第十条第一款第十二、十五项，第二十四条第一项，第五十二条第六项，第五十三条第一项，第五十四条）. http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c2/c30834/202011/t20201119_308796.html
2. 全国人大常委会 (2020). 刑法修正案（十一）（第二十项，即刑法第二百一十七条）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/zdgz/202012/t20201227_503682.shtml
3. 最高人民法院、最高人民检察院 (2025). 关于办理侵犯知识产权刑事案件适用法律若干问题的解释（法释〔2025〕5 号，第十二、十三、二十五、二十八、三十一条）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/xwfbh/wsfbt/202504/t20250424_693977.shtml
4. 最高人民法院、最高人民检察院、公安部 (2011). 关于办理侵犯知识产权刑事案件适用法律若干问题的意见（法发〔2011〕3 号，第十条）. https://www.dongguandesq.jcy.gov.cn/tzgg/201103/t20110321_3344314.shtml（东莞市第二市区人民检察院转载）
5. 最高人民检察院 (2023). 第四十八批指导性案例（检例第 193 号，梁永平、王正航等十五人侵犯著作权案）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/jczdal/202309/t20230915_628229.shtml
6. 最高人民检察院 (2024). 检察机关依法惩治侵犯著作权犯罪典型案例（案例一、案例三）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/xwfbh/wsfbt/202401/t20240105_639347.shtml
7. 中国驻长崎总领事馆 (2018). 中国驻长崎总领事馆提醒在日中国公民遵守著作权法. http://nagasaki.china-consulate.gov.cn/chn/tzgg/201802/t20180208_4564322.htm

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 9, tip 24. This section describes legal rules, mostly mainland China’s. It is general information, not legal advice; for your own case, talk to a lawyer. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer