Throughout history people have read information carried on a range of materials, from bones, to stone, to bamboo and paper.

Recently a new medium has begun to carry the message - the computer screen. It has allowed much wider access to reading, but unfortunately for writers, the larger audience does not neceassarily mean more income - often it is none at all.

Noted writer Yu Qiuyu, one of the first authors on the mainland to speak out against piracy, says he would like to put his writing on the Internet "but won't be very happy if someone puts my work on the Internet without my permission, and makes money from it".

The first lawsuit related to Internet publishing in China was brought in 1999, when six writers sued a website for carrying their work on the Internet without their permission. The writers won.

But things are now far more complicated as the Internet booms. The number of users and websites are soaring daily at the same time technology becomes increasingly complex.

By the end of 2006, the number of Internet users in the nation reached 140 million. There were then more than 840,000 websites in China, a quarter of which were in Internet publishing-related businesses.

The development of the Internet has been so rapid that piracy has now easily moved to the cutting edges of communication - piracy employing Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) equipped cellphones. Online copyright violations have gone mobile as people now read material on a screen carried in their pocket.

Though new, WAP has developed rapidly in China, now the largest market of wireless readers in the world. By the end of last June, WAP user numbers had already reached nearly 45 million, with more than 260 WAP websites, most of which offer downloads of photos, ring tones and books.

According to statistics from Analysys International, a research and consultant company, the number of WAP users with mobile phones will surpass 68 million in 2008, when the market value projected to reach 17 billion yuan.

In 2006, 20 Internet writers sued UUcun, a WAP website, for electronically publishing more than 20 of their novels without permission. The authors said that they received no requests to use their works and the website did not even carry their names as authors.

A spokesman from UUcun replied that the site offers content for free and has made little money from the disputed material.

Some websites are suing others at the same time they are being sued. Suren, a company that provides online reading services, sued 3GPP, a WAP website, for offering free content of two books to its users. Susen had barely finished the case when seven writers sued it, asking for 1.6 million yuan in compensation.

According to Li Mingsheng, one of the seven writers, the company scanned works for use in a database it sells to colleges and libraries around China.

Li Changkui, a freelance writer, this year took many universities to court because they used the content of his book in digital campus libraries that had been supplied by companies such as Suren. He called the problem volcano ready to erupt any time.

Cao Xusheng, a copyright lawyer notes that "copyright protection has become a key issue for the wireless reading industry - only with an established rule can it be taken back to the right track".

Cao also suggests that government agencies need to build a copyright trading system that is suitable to the Internet environment.

Jiang Haifeng, a staff member of Suren, says WAP websites must establish a proper digital resource platform complete with copyrights before beginning operation.

According to Xu Chao, an IPR administration official, the government is working hard to solve these issues both through laws and administrative measures, though he notes most Internet-related copyright disputes are solved in the courts.

Since 2005 the government has made yearly efforts that last for three months to remove illegal websites.

China revised its copyright law in 2001 and included protection for material used on the Internet. In 2006 the State Council formulated a new regulation that helps enforce the law.

Despite the efforts, Xu admits that the Internet is so closely connected to technology that legislation at times cannot keep pace with the speed of development.

"We have to adjust to technology developments continuously and find solutions to new problems," he says.

(China Daily)

2013-07-17