China summons news portal websites for copyright protection

BEIJING -- China's copyright authority Saturday summoned representatives from 13 news portal and online service websites and told them to improve their copyright protection awareness.

The websites included news services operated by Toutiao, WeChat, NetEase, Sina and Sohu.

The National Copyright Administration told relevant enterprises to take concrete measures to improve their systems for copyright protection and regulate the use and repost of other media's products.

The authority stressed that online service providers should get proper authorization before they repost content from traditional media outlets and that their reposts should give clear information about the authors and sources of the content and not tamper with original headlines and meaning.

The administration also asked the websites to strengthen self-discipline and copyright management to maintain sound order in the industry.