ChinaCivil Code, portrait right and protection of the voice
Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国民法典), arts. 1019, 1023
archived copy
Read from a public archive copy, not the publisher directly. The publisher does not serve this page to automated readers, so a direct fetch was not an option here; how we access sources. Archived 2020. Publisher's page: http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2020-06/01/content_5516649.htmIn force since .
An AI prohibited practices rule binding public and private bodies.
- Private right of action
- Yes
- Obligation class
- Consent, Prohibition
As of .
What it requires
- Do not infringe another person's portrait right by defacing or disfiguring their portrait, or by forging it with information technology means (art. 1019, para. 1).
- Obtain the portrait right holder's consent before making, using, or publicly disclosing their portrait, unless the law provides otherwise (art. 1019, para. 1).
- Treat the protection of a natural person's voice as following the provisions on the protection of the portrait right, which article 1023 applies to the voice by reference (art. 1023, para. 2).
- Rely on the consent exceptions only where they fit: article 1020 permits, without consent, reasonable acts such as using an already public portrait within the necessary scope for personal study, art appreciation, classroom teaching, or scientific research, and unavoidably making, using, or publicly disclosing a portrait in news reporting.
What this law does
Article 1019 provides that no organization or individual may infringe another person's portrait right by defacing or disfiguring the portrait, or by forging it with information technology means. Article 1019 also provides that, unless the law provides otherwise, no one may make, use, or publicly disclose a person's portrait without the portrait right holder's consent.
Article 1018 defines a portrait as the external image of a specific natural person, reflected on a carrier through images, sculpture, painting or similar means, by which that person can be identified. Article 1023 provides that the protection of a natural person's voice applies by reference the provisions on the protection of the portrait right.
Article 1020 permits, without the portrait right holder's consent, reasonable acts such as using an already public portrait within the necessary scope for personal study, art appreciation, classroom teaching, or scientific research, and unavoidably making, using, or publicly disclosing a portrait in news reporting. The Civil Code took effect on .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app generates content with AI or processes voice recordings.