Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property
Organization, Geoffrey Yu, said in Beijing on Tuesday other
countries need to give China credit for its hard and effective work
on copyright protection.
"I think that China needs understanding and certainly they
should know the Chinese authorities have been working very hard to
protect other people's copyright. I also realize it's a very big
country with a huge population, so the situation is complex and
needs special attention," he told reporters at the 2006
International Copyright Forum, adding that this problem spread to
all countries, not merely developing ones.
Piracy has been a serious issue in China meeting with sharp
criticism by other countries.
A national survey released by the China Publication Science
Institute on Aug. 31 showed that 45.5 percent of all publications
sold in China in 2005 were pirated. The survey showed that this
staggeringly high number still represented the first decline in
publication piracy rates in six years.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and
the Motion Picture Association of America sent letters to the
National Copyright Administration (NCA) early this year praising a
special operation to crush Internet infringement and piracy as
"hard but effective."
They also expressed their hopes for enhanced cooperation with
the NCA, which closed 76 websites and confiscated 39 servers used
for piracy operation carried out between September and December
last year.
Yu said the most effective measure to curb piracy in China in
the long term lies in public education. A short term solution is
proper law enforcement, Yu suggested.
"All governments can continue to be active or even more active
in promoting copyright awareness among consumers. The mass media
can broadcast more messages about copyright to young people," he
added.
(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2006)