In late April 2006, Beijing launched its Copyright Registration Platform for Digital Works, making Beijing the first city in China (and in the world as claimed by Chinese media) to have such a registration platform for digital works.
The key feature in this system is the digital watermark that will be incorporated into the digital works after registration has been granted. Digital watermarks are digital signals hidden in the digital works and include the rights holder's identifying information and registration number, among other things. After the digital works are stamped with digital watermarks, they should not have any change with respect to their aesthetic values.
In order to register its digital works and be issued digital watermarks, the rights holder must submit the digital works seeking registration, an explanation of the digital works, a promise of title to the works and a statement of non-infringement to the Digital Works Registration Centre of Beijing Copyright Protection Centre. After conducting 3 reviews (initial review, second review and final review), the Registration Centre shall add watermarks to the works and issue registration certificates to the rights holder.
Such kind of registration shall serve the purposes of confirming rights of the holders, providing status search possibilities backed with the government's credibility, and providing evidence for enforcement actions.
