A trifle matter happened in the neighboring family gave a great boost to Liu Dongwei, deputy director of the Beijing Copyright Bureau. On day, a primary school pupil of his neighbor bought a set of software home, having seen the price, his father asked, "So expensive, why didn't you buy piratical products?? The boy answered justly, "Aunt Liu has said that buying piratical products is tantamount to piracy."
With China's intensified efforts to protect intellectual property rights, the copyright awareness has gradually taken root in people's hearts, more and more Chinese, like this boy, are saying "No' to piracy and tort with their actual deeds.
Copyright-based industries are usually called creative industries, which include computer software, film-TV, disc and publishing industries. These industries, while providing consumers with rich and colorful education and recreation, also create lots of job opportunities and government tax revenues and have thus increasingly become an important pillar for the economic development of various countries. But the current rampant worldwide act of piracy has become the greatest difficult problem facing these industries.
"The government organization will not cease attacking piracy as long as piracy exists, this is a fundamental principle." This remark of Liu Dongwei indicates the clear-cut anti-piracy attitude of the Chinese governments at all levels.
Since the first special struggle launched in 1989, China has continuously launched repeated large-scale attacks on the activities of smuggling and dealing in piratical audio-visual products over the past 13 years. More than 61.57 million piratical products of various types were captured last year nationwide, including 36.92 million piratical audio-video products, 12.23 million piratical books, 5.82 million pirated electronic publications and 4.12 million pieces of piratical software, making it so far the year witnessing the capture of the most piratical products. The number of cases handled and those concluded last year by copyright administrative organizations at various levels increased somewhat over previous years, they handled a total of 4,416 cases and closed 4,306 cases, with the rate of closed cases reaching 97.5 percent.
While intensifying crackdown efforts, China also adopts various effective measures to eliminate the emergence of piratical products from their source.
On January 18, 2000, the country's working group for cracking down on pornographic and forgery products, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Public Security, the former Press and Publication Administration and the State Copyright Bureau jointly promulgated the "Method for Awarding Personnel Who Have Done Meritorious Service in Reporting on "Manufacturing and Trafficking Pornographic Products, on Act of Infringement, Piracy and Other Illegal Activities". This document stipulates the person who reports on an illegal disk production line can receive a highest award of 300,000 yuan. By relying on people's offence reporting, Guangdong Province has uncovered nearly 30 illegal disk production lines within several short months, currently 137 illegal disk production lines have been eradicated.
"Don't sell disk production equipment through abnormal channels to unlawful dealers in China." An official with the Press and Publication General Administration announced that from now on, underground disk production line equipment suppliers captured in China will all be put on record, they will become persons not welcomed by the Chinese disk industry.
In light of the situation that piratical tapes were shown in many laser optic disc projection halls, the Ministry of Culture began in early 1996 to outlaw the activities of laser optic disk projection halls nationwide. The ministry also stipulates that if consumers discover the audio-visual products they bought are piratical products, they have the right to claim compensation from the store selling the audio-visual products. These stores will be given different degrees of punishment according to the merit of the case, including warning, fine, suspension of business for rectification and withdrawal of their licenses.
While attaching equal importance to crackdown and management, China also works hard to create a good legal environment, continuously intensifies law-enforcement effort, thus providing effective legal support for curbing piracy. After 20 years of efforts, China has initially established a set of fairly complete legal system for intellectual property rights, including eight laws and regulations in the intellectual property field and over 30 related laws and regulations. This year, China has revised the Copyright Law and promulgated and implemented the new regulations on the protection of computer software, some provisions of which further intensify supporting effort for attacking piracy.
Under the newly revised regulations on the management of audio-visual products and the newly published methods for the management of wholesale, retail and rent of audio-visual products, piracy and other illegal businesses will be given more severe punishment. The Ministry of Culture has also established and perfected the system of restricting and forbidding the entry of tape markets on the blacklist, the system of supervision, offence reporting and announcement of illegal audio-visual products, the system of sticking anti-forgery signs on audio-visual products, etc., striving to institutionally establish an anti-piracy, long-lasting mechanism.
Various social circles have also declared war against piracy in their own ways. At present, most Chinese provinces and cities have set up anti-piracy union. The China Copyright Association is planning to establish a national anti-piracy committee. We believe that with the common efforts of various social sectors, piracy and tort will gradually disappear, though the task is heavy and the road is long for the protection of intellectual property rights.
( October 22, 2002)
