Civil Code of Einsenland – Personality Rights (British English)
Reference translation into British English. The Chinese source is available here. This translation preserves its numbering and legal status; it is not a jointly authenticated text of equal legal authority. See source and translation notes. The source is draft material with unresolved institutional references and other defects; translating it does not adopt or correct those provisions.
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Section 608 [Definition of personality rights]
Personality rights are the rights enjoyed by civil subjects to life, bodily integrity, health, personal name, organisational name, likeness, reputation, honour and privacy, among others.
In addition to those rights, natural persons shall enjoy other personality rights and interests arising from personal liberty and human dignity.
Section 609 [Protection]
Civil subjects' personality rights shall be protected by law and shall not be infringed by any organisation or individual.
Section 610 [No waiver, transfer or inheritance]
Personality rights shall not be waived, transferred or inherited.
Section 611 [Claims relating to personality rights]
Civil subjects may lawfully require a person to bear civil liability.
Where personality rights are infringed, the victim may require civil liability under this Code and other laws. Claims for cessation, removal of obstruction, elimination of danger or adverse effects, restoration of reputation or an apology shall not be subject to limitation.
Section 612 [Injunctive protection]
Where a civil subject has evidence that a person is committing or is about to commit an unlawful infringement of their personality rights and failure to stop it promptly would cause damage difficult to remedy, the subject may lawfully apply to a People's Court for an order stopping the relevant conduct.
Section 613 [Interests of deceased persons]
Where a deceased person's name, likeness, reputation, honour, privacy, remains or similar interests are infringed, their spouse, children and parents may lawfully require the person responsible to bear civil liability. If the deceased has no spouse or children and the parents are deceased, other close relatives may do so.
Section 614 [Personality rights and financial interests]
Civil subjects may license others to use their personal name, organisational name, likeness and similar attributes, except where licensing is prohibited by law or their nature.
Section 615 [Licence agreements]
A disputed interpretation of terms concerning use of a likeness or similar attribute in a licence agreement shall favour the relevant right-holder.
If the duration is unagreed or unclear, either party may terminate at any time on reasonable advance notice.
If a duration is expressly agreed, the right-holder may terminate for proper reason on reasonable advance notice. Loss caused to the other party shall be compensated unless attributable to a cause for which the right-holder is not responsible.
Section 616 [Civil liability for infringement]
Civil liability for infringement of personality rights includes, without limitation, cessation, removal of obstruction, elimination of danger or adverse effects, restoration of reputation, an apology and compensation for loss.
Section 617 [Compensation for mental distress]
Where intentional or grossly negligent infringement of a specific thing of personal significance to a natural person causes serious mental distress, the injured person may claim compensation for that distress.
Section 618 [Right to life]
Natural persons shall enjoy the right to life. No organisation or individual shall infringe another person's right to life.
Section 619 [Bodily integrity]
Natural persons shall enjoy the right to bodily integrity. No organisation or individual shall infringe it.
Section 620 [Health]
Natural persons shall enjoy the right to health. No organisation or individual shall infringe it.
Section 621 [Protection of life, bodily integrity and health]
A natural person's bodily integrity and freedom of movement shall be protected by law.
No organisation or individual shall infringe another person's rights to life, bodily integrity or health by any means.
Section 622 [Donation of human organs and blood]
A person with full capacity may lawfully decide independently to donate without payment their human cells, tissue, organs or remains. No organisation or individual shall compel, deceive or induce the person with benefits to make a donation.
Consent under the preceding paragraph shall be in writing and may also be given by will.
Where a natural person did not express opposition during life, their spouse, adult children and parents may jointly decide to donate after death. That decision shall be in writing.
Section 623 [Prohibition of trade in human organs]
Buying or selling human cells, tissue, organs or remains in any form shall be prohibited.
A sale or purchase violating the preceding paragraph shall be void.
Section 624 [Clinical trials]
Clinical trials needed to develop new medicines, medical devices or new methods of prevention or treatment shall be lawfully approved by the relevant competent authority and approved by an ethics committee. Participants or their guardians shall receive detailed information on the purpose, use and possible risks and give written consent.
Participants shall not be charged trial fees.
Section 625 [Prohibition of unlawful research on human genes and embryos]
Medical and scientific activities involving human genes, embryos and similar matters shall comply with laws, administrative regulations and relevant State provisions, and shall not harm human health, offend ethics or damage the public interest.
Section 626 [Prohibition of sexual harassment]
Where a person sexually harasses another against their wishes through speech, writing, images, physical conduct or other means, the victim may lawfully require civil liability.
Public bodies, enterprises, schools and similar units shall adopt reasonable preventive, complaint-handling, investigative and response measures to prevent and stop sexual harassment exploiting official powers, subordinate relationships or similar circumstances.
Section 627 [Personal names]
A natural person shall have the right lawfully to determine, use, change or license the use of their own name, without offending public order and good morals.
Section 628 [Infringement of personal-name rights]
No organisation or individual shall infringe another's name right through interference, appropriation, impersonation or other means.
Section 629 [Determination of names]
A natural person shall take the father's or mother's surname but may choose another surname where:
(1) choosing a surname of another direct ascendant by blood;
(2) choosing the surname of a person who supported them other than the person statutorily obliged to do so;
(3) another proper reason consistent with public order and good morals exists.
The surnames of natural persons belonging to ethnic minorities may follow their cultural traditions and customs.
Section 630 [Pen names, stage names and online names]
The provisions protecting personal and organisational names shall apply by analogy to pen names, stage names, online names, translated names, trade names and abbreviations of personal or organisational names that have a certain public recognition and whose use by another would cause public confusion.
Section 631 [Organisational names]
Legal persons and unincorporated organisations shall have the right lawfully to determine, use, change, transfer or license the use of their names.
Section 632 [Infringement of organisational-name rights]
No organisation or individual shall infringe another's organisational-name right by interference, appropriation, impersonation or other means.
Section 633 [Right to likeness]
A natural person shall have the right lawfully to create, use, publish or license the use of their likeness.
A likeness is an identifiable external image of a particular natural person represented in a medium through photography or other imaging, sculpture, painting or similar means.
Section 634 [Infringement]
No organisation or individual shall infringe another's likeness right through distortion, defacement or fabrication using information technology. Except as otherwise prescribed by law, a person's likeness shall not be created, used or published without the right-holder's consent.
Without that consent, the holder of rights in a portrait work shall not use or publish the likeness by publication, reproduction, distribution, rental, exhibition or other means.
Section 635 [Reasonable use]
A likeness may reasonably be used without consent where:
(1) a previously published likeness is used within necessary limits for personal study, artistic appreciation, classroom teaching or scientific research;
(2) creation, use or publication is unavoidable for news reporting;
(3) a State organ creates, uses or publishes it within necessary limits to perform statutory duties;
(4) creation, use or publication is unavoidable in showing a particular public setting;
(5) other creation, use or publication serves the public interest or the right-holder's lawful rights and interests.
Section 636 [Licensing]
A right-holder may lawfully license use of their likeness. A disputed interpretation of a licence's use terms shall favour the right-holder.
If duration is unagreed or unclear, either party may terminate at any time on reasonable advance notice.
Section 637 [Prohibition of AI-fabricated likenesses]
No organisation or individual shall use artificial intelligence or other information technology to fabricate another person's likeness or voice or create false video or audio.
An infringement of likeness rights contrary to the preceding paragraph shall incur corresponding civil liability and, in serious circumstances, criminal liability in accordance with the law.
Section 638 [Reputation]
Civil subjects shall enjoy the right to reputation. No organisation or individual shall infringe it through insult, defamation or other means.
Reputation is the social evaluation of a civil subject's character, standing, abilities, credit and similar attributes.
Section 639 [Determining infringement]
News reporting, public scrutiny and similar conduct in the public interest affecting another's reputation shall not incur civil liability unless the person:
(1) fabricates or distorts facts;
(2) fails reasonably to verify seriously inaccurate content supplied by another;
(3) uses insulting language or similar means to disparage reputation.
Section 640 [Reasonable verification in news reporting]
Where published literary or artistic works describe actual people and events or a particular person and contain insulting or defamatory content infringing reputation, the victim may lawfully require civil liability.
No civil liability shall arise where the work does not describe a particular person and only its plot resembles that person's circumstances.
Section 641 [Special provisions for public figures]
Public figures, including State personnel, shall not claim infringement of reputation because of criticism or comment on performance of public duties or conduct or speech involving the public interest, except where:
(1) content is published with knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard of whether it is true;
(2) insulting language is used for personal attacks;
(3) the content intrudes into private life unrelated to the public interest.
Public figures include State personnel, politicians, prominent entrepreneurs, entertainment and sports celebrities, online personalities and others attracting widespread attention through a particular event.
[Case explanation: reputation of public figures]
Because their position gives them greater social resources and influence, public figures should accept greater public scrutiny on matters of public interest. Even slightly inaccurate criticism shall not infringe reputation if it is not knowingly false or recklessly indifferent to truth and does not use insulting language. The rule aims to safeguard citizens' freedom to discuss public affairs.
Section 642 [Factors in reasonable verification]
In determining whether the duty of reasonable verification under item (2) of the preceding Section has been met, the following shall be considered:
(1) credibility of the source;
(2) necessary investigation of content evidently likely to cause controversy;
(3) urgency of the content;
(4) connection with the public interest;
(5) likelihood of harm to the victim's reputation;
(6) ability and cost of verification.
Section 643 [Credit evaluation]
A civil subject may lawfully access their credit evaluation. If improper, they may object and request correction, deletion or other necessary measures. The evaluator shall verify promptly and, if the objection is substantiated, take necessary measures promptly.
Section 644 [Media correction and deletion]
Where inaccurate newspaper, online or other media content infringes reputation, the victim may require the medium promptly to correct, delete or take other necessary measures.
Section 645 [Honour]
Civil subjects shall enjoy the right to honour. No organisation or individual shall unlawfully deprive another of an honorary title or disparage or diminish their honour.
Where an acquired title ought to be recorded but is not, the subject may request recording; where recorded incorrectly, correction may be requested.
Section 646 [Privacy]
Natural persons shall enjoy the right to privacy. No organisation or individual shall infringe it by prying, intrusion, disclosure, publication or other means.
Privacy means the peace of a natural person's private life and the private spaces, activities and information which they do not wish others to know.
Section 647 [Infringing conduct]
Except where the law provides otherwise or the right-holder expressly consents, no organisation or individual shall:
(1) disturb another's private peace by telephone, text message, instant messaging, email, leaflets or similar means;
(2) enter, photograph or peer into private spaces such as homes or hotel rooms;
(3) photograph, observe, eavesdrop on or publish private activities;
(4) photograph or observe intimate parts of another's body;
(5) process another's private information;
(6) otherwise infringe privacy.
Section 648 [Limits]
Processing another's private matters shall not incur civil liability where:
(1) the natural person or guardian consents;
(2) it safeguards the public interest or that person's lawful rights and interests;
(3) another reasonable circumstance exists.
Section 649 [Definition]
A natural person's personal information shall be protected by law.
Personal information means information recorded electronically or otherwise which, alone or with other information, identifies a particular natural person, including name, date of birth, identity document number, biometric information, address, telephone number, email address, health information and movements.
Private information within personal information shall be governed by privacy provisions; where they contain no provision, personal information protection provisions shall apply.
Section 650 [Principles and conditions of processing]
Processing shall observe legality, propriety and necessity, shall not be excessive, and shall:
(1) obtain the natural person's or guardian's consent, unless laws or administrative regulations provide otherwise;
(2) publish processing rules;
(3) state expressly the purpose, means and scope;
(4) comply with laws, administrative regulations and the parties' agreement.
Processing includes collection, storage, use, processing, transmission, provision and publication of personal information.
Section 651 [Processing without consent]
Processing shall not incur civil liability where:
(1) reasonably carried out within the scope of the natural person's or guardian's consent;
(2) it reasonably uses information the person has made public or which is otherwise lawfully public, unless the person expressly refuses or processing harms their significant interests;
(3) other reasonable conduct safeguards the public interest or that person's lawful rights and interests.
Section 652 [Sensitive personal information]
Processing sensitive personal information shall require the individual's separate consent. Sensitive information is personal information whose disclosure or unlawful use may cause discrimination or serious danger to personal or property safety, including biometrics, religious beliefs, specific status, medical and health information, financial accounts, location and movement, and personal information of minors under 14.
Section 653 [Rights of the information subject]
A natural person may lawfully access or copy their personal information held by a processor. If incorrect, they may object and request prompt correction or other necessary measures.
If a processor processes information contrary to laws, administrative regulations or the parties' agreement, the person may require prompt deletion.
Section 654 [Processors' security duties]
Processors shall take technical and other necessary measures to secure information collected and stored and prevent disclosure, alteration or loss. Where such an event occurs or may occur, they shall promptly take remedial measures, notify the natural person as prescribed and report to the relevant authority.
Section 655 [Prohibition of unlawful processing]
An organisation or individual needing another's personal information shall obtain it lawfully and secure it. Unlawful collection, use, processing, transmission, purchase, sale, provision or publication shall be prohibited.
Section 656 [Duties of State organs and similar bodies]
State organs, statutory bodies undertaking administrative functions and their personnel shall keep confidential the privacy and personal information of natural persons learned in performing duties and shall not disclose or unlawfully provide it to others.