Distributing unauthorized Chinese-dubbed comics, pirated movies/TV shows, cloud storage links, and pirated e-books — even for free — is illegal; adding ads or charging membership fees can lead to criminal charges

There’s virtually no cost involved. You can buy or download content for personal viewing or translation practice, as long as you don’t post it online for others to access. Avoid creating resource websites or groups that display ads or charge membership fees, and never sell cloud storage links. The real challenge is resisting the urge to become a “reposter” when everyone else seems to be doing it.

Legally, copyright law grants creators translation rights — the ability to convert a work from one language to another — and the right to distribute it online so the public can access it at any time. Unauthorized translation or online posting constitutes infringement. Only uses strictly for personal study, research, or enjoyment are exempt from permission or payment requirements. Compensation is calculated based on the copyright holder’s actual losses or your profits; if those can’t be determined, courts may set it between 500 yuan and 5 million yuan. In cases of intentional and severe infringement, penalties can be increased by 1 to 5 times. Reasonable costs incurred by rights holders to stop the infringement must also be paid. Criminally, Article 217 of the Criminal Law requires “profit-seeking intent” to apply. Uploading works online for public access without permission qualifies as copyright infringement, punishable by up to 3 years in prison plus fines; larger-scale or more serious cases incur sentences of 3 to 10 years plus fines. Profit-seeking includes placing paid ads on websites and charging membership or registration fees — all such earnings are deemed illegal income. Thresholds include earning over 30,000 yuan, generating over 50,000 yuan in illegal business volume (as seen in the YYYS case involving membership fees, ads, and hard drive sales), sharing 500+ works online, receiving over 10,000 downloads or 100,000 views, or amassing 1,000+ paying members. If two of these thresholds are each met by more than half, the same penalties apply; exceeding these figures by 10 times moves cases into the 3–10 year bracket. Fines typically equal 1–10 times the illegal earnings. Official cases: Liang Yongping and others downloaded unauthorized films, organized translation/subtitling, and made them available via the YYYS website and app, amassing over 32,800 works and 6.8 million members; from 2018–2021 they earned over 1.15 million yuan from ads and membership fees, plus another 1 million yuan from selling pirated hard drives, resulting in a 3-year-and-6-month sentence plus 1.5 million yuan in fines. Another case involved Ke, who used web crawlers to gather over 50,000 films, displayed ads on his site/app, and earned 350,000 yuan before receiving a 3-year suspended sentence and 400,000 yuan in fines. Huang operated an illegal music download forum from home, amassing over 100,000 songs and 500,000 yuan in membership fees; he was sentenced to 3 years suspended and 550,000 yuan in fines.

全国人大常委会 (2020). 著作权法（2020 年修正，第十条第一款第十二、十五项，第二十四条第一项，第五十二条第六项，第五十三条第一项，第五十四条）. http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c2/c30834/202011/t20201119_308796.html；全国人大常委会 (2020). 刑法修正案（十一）（第二十项，即刑法第二百一十七条）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/zdgz/202012/t20201227_503682.shtml；最高人民法院、最高人民检察院 (2025). 关于办理侵犯知识产权刑事案件适用法律若干问题的解释（法释〔2025〕5 号，第十二、十三、二十五、二十八、三十一条）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/xwfbh/wsfbt/202504/t20250424_693977.shtml；最高人民法院、最高人民检察院、公安部 (2011). 关于办理侵犯知识产权刑事案件适用法律若干问题的意见（法发〔2011〕3 号，第十条）. https://www.dongguandesq.jcy.gov.cn/tzgg/201103/t20110321_3344314.shtml（东莞市第二市区人民检察院转载）；最高人民检察院 (2023). 第四十八批指导性案例（检例第 193 号，梁永平、王正航等十五人侵犯著作权案）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/jczdal/202309/t20230915_628229.shtml；最高人民检察院 (2024). 检察机关依法惩治侵犯著作权犯罪典型案例（案例一、案例三）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/xwfbh/wsfbt/202401/t20240105_639347.shtml

You personally benefit from such activities when used solely for self-education or enjoyment within legal bounds. The critical line is “posting it online for public access.” Subtitle or translation groups that don’t charge fees technically avoid criminal liability since profit intent is required, but they still face civil penalties requiring removal and compensation. Adding ads, membership fees, or “donation”-based perks instantly shifts them into the profit-seeking category. In the YYYS case, translators and proofreaders with minimal involvement were treated as witnesses rather than defendants; authorities emphasized stricter punishment for organizers and platform managers, while minor or temporary offenders may face leniency or no charges. The older 2004, 2007, and 2020 intellectual property criminal interpretations were repealed on April 26, 2025; the 2011 inter-agency guidelines remain valid unless conflicting with newer rules — such as raising the required click threshold from 50,000 to 100,000. Risks related to publishing fan fiction or derivative works are covered in Section 25; selling merchandise featuring copyrighted images is addressed in Section 12, Item 21. Handling copyright complaints as a platform operator is explained in Section 26, Item 9. 〔32824〕 〔6830000〕 〔2700000〕 〔8800000〕 〔40000〕