The first copyright law in the history of China was the Copyright Law of the Qing Dynasty enacted by China in the second year of Xuantong in the Qing Dynasty (19 10).

The Copyright Law of the Qing Dynasty is a special law to protect authors' rights, which was enacted in the second year of Xuantong in the Qing Dynasty (19 10). At the beginning of the 20th century, the Qing government made preparations for constitutionalism, appointed Shen Jiaben and Wu Wei as ministers to amend laws, introduced bourgeois legal systems and principles, and formulated a series of special laws, among which the Copyright Law of the Qing Dynasty was one. The Copyright Law of the Qing Dynasty is divided into five chapters, including general provisions, time limit of rights, reporting obligations, rights restrictions and supplementary provisions, with 55 articles in total. The concept of copyright, the scope of works, the rights of authors, the procedures for obtaining copyright, the duration of copyright and the restrictions on copyright are all stipulated accordingly.