Research On Right To Withdraw In The Copyright Law Horizon

Right to withdraw refers to the condition that an author withdraw his economic rightof copyright after transfer or license another person to exercise, if happened "thought oremotional change" which made the author want to revise or stop spread of his work.Falling within category of rights of personality, right to withdraw could not be inheritable,transferable, deprivable, and has limitation of exercise. It is also an independent right ofmoral rights. Right to withdraw legally promotes the value objectives of freedom andjustice, economically protects authors’, publishers’ and public interests, culturally helpscreate and inherit social culture. The above various value makes right to withdrawacknowledged by some continental law countries. What besides, there is no conflictbetween right to withdraw and Berne Convention, Universal Copyright Convention andTRIPS. However, the differences between common law system and continental lawsystem in cultural foundation, institutional background, plus external factors from BerneConvention, make right to withdraw ignored by Anglo-American copyright.In1984, Chinese "Implementation Regulations for Copyright Protection of Booksand Periodical" used to acknowledge right to withdraw. But the right is not recognized by"Copyright Law" in1990. This situation derived from the juvenility of Chinese copyrightand contract law, the weakness of economic strength of authors and the lack of culturalproducts during legislation of "Copyright law". Now, when"Copyright Law" promulgatedtwenty years later, the necessity of right to withdraw is worth to discuss because of itscompatibility of traditional culture, the constitution and the basic orientation of thecopyright law of China. But immaturity of the right itself, as well as the immaturity of theenvironment of art creation in China, make "Copyright Law" could not recognize right towith draw currently. In spite of this, the research of right to withdraw still has its value. Itcan provide theoretical basis for legislation for the future on the one hand, on the otherhand it helps protect rights of publishers and social public of China in the case ofcopyright trade.