IV. Archival Filing of TV Series

The record-filing and announcing system shall be implemented for the shooting and production of TV series, a production entity shall shoot and produce a TV series in accordance with the announced contents.

1．Requirements of the object of record-fi ling. “TV series” under Chinese laws means: (1) TV series (including TV cartoons) to be broadcast by domestic TV stations or distributed within and without the territory of China, including TV series produced by domestic entities (hereinafter referred to as the “domestically produced TV series”) and TV series jointly produced with overseas institutions (hereinafter referred to as the “China-foreign cooperatively produced TV series”); (2) TV series imported from foreign countries for being broadcast by domestic TV stations (including TV cartoons and feature films, hereinafter referred to as the “imported TV series”). Among them, the production of domestically produced TV series and China-foreign cooperatively produced TV series (please refer to Section 7 of this chapter for the procedures of the imported TV series) follows the record-fi ling and announcing system introduced in this chapter. It should be noted that, after the announcement, TV series production entity shall shoot and produce in accordance with the announced contents. Where the production entity changes the main characters or main stories of the announced TV series, it shall go through the formalities for record-filing and announcement again. Where it changes the name of the TV series, the number of episodes or the production entity, it shall, after obtaining the consent of the administrative department of radio and television of the people's government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government or the competent department at a higher level, file an application with the administrative department of radio and television under the State Council for going through the relevant modifi cation formalities.

2．Requirements of the subject of record-fi ling. Such a production entity may apply for the record-fi ling and announcement of the shooting and production of TV Series: (1) entity that has obtained Permit for Production of TV Series (Category A) mentioned in Article Ⅲ of this chapter; (2) entity that has obtained Radio and TV Program Production and Business Operation License mentioned in Article Ⅱ of this chapter; (3) a TV station at or above the level of a city divided into districts (including a radio and television station or a radio, film and television group); (4) holding a Film Production License.However,Film Industry Promotion Law has cancelled the Film Production License.For details,see the above-mentioned chapter of Film; (5) any other production entity that meets the conditions listed in Section Ⅲ of this chapter with the qualifi cation for applying for the Permit for Production of TV Series (Category B).According to Provisions on the Administration of Contents of TV Series, to apply for the record-filing and announcement of the shooting and production of TV Series, having the qualifi cation to apply for a Permit for Production of TV Series (Category B) is enough, and obtaining a TV Series production license is not a requirement.

Comparing the main requirements of the TV production entity in Section Ⅲ, Item 1 of this chapter with the main requirements of the subject of TV Series record-fi ling and announcement in this item, it can be found that the more subjects can apply for the TV Series record-filing and announcement.

See the following charts for details.

Picture 4 Permit for TV Series Production Entities

Picture 5 Permit for Apply for the Record-Filing and Announcement of the Shooting and Production of TV Series

3．Regulatory Authority. The administrative department of radio and television under the State Council shall be responsible for announcing the TV series shot and produced in the whole country. The administrative department of radio and television of the people's government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall be responsible for accepting the record-filing of the TV series shot and produced by the production entities within its administrative region, and after the examination, the application shall be reported to the administrative department of radio and television under the State Council for announcement. A production entity which directly goes through record-filing formalities with the administrative department of radio, and television under the State Council in accordance with the relevant provisions shall obtain the consent of the competent department at a higher level before going through the formalities for record-fi ling of a TV series shot and produced by itself. The administrative department of radio and television under the State Council shall examine the application materials for record-fi ling and announcement and within 20 days after the prescribed date of acceptance, announce it on the website of the administrative department of radio and television under the State Council. The announced contents shall include the name of the TV series, the production entity, the number of episodes, the abstract, etc. The printed text of announcement of the TV series can be used as proof when handling relevant procedures.

4．Materials. Filing an application for the record-fi ling and announcement of the shooting and production of a TV series, the following materials shall be submitted: (1) A “Record-filing and Announcement Form on the Shooting and Production of a TV Series” or an “Application for the Initiation of a TV Series involving any Signifi cant Revolutionary or Historic Event”, to which the corresponding offi cial seal shall be affi xed;(2) A brief introduction (not less than 1,500 Chinese characters), which truthfully and accurately describes the theme, main characters, background, stories and other contents of the TV series; and (3) If the TV series involves any signifi cant theme or any sensitive content including politics, military aff airs, diplomacy, national security, united front, ethnic issues, religion, judicial issues, public security, etc. (hereinafter referred to as the “special themes”), the written opinions issued by the relevant competent department of the people's government at or above the level of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government or the relevant parties shall be provided.