On August 19 of this year the Chinese news reported that the Beijing Chidong Culture and Media Company began a lawsuit against a Japanese TV station. Apparently SKYperfecTV on Channel 785 broadcast their Japanese production of the Chinese TV series Ku Cai Hua without getting any authorization or giving any payment. In fact, Japanese TV stations are currently alleged to have broadcast up to 500 unauthorized (and unpaid for) Chinese TV series, totaling approximately 9,000 episodes.
Understandably some very irate Chinese feel certain that the Japanese are liable for copyright infringement, at the price of 10 to 15 million Japanese yen per episode. The lawsuit will be held in Japanese courts.
The situation made me think about the words of my old friend Gary Kott, an author who made his fortune writing the super-successful Bill Cosby Show. He'd told me over five years ago that if China outsourced all the US jobs: automobiles, clothing, steel, food and agriculture, the United States would always be able to make a good living by exporting entertainment. "The US has the best movies and shows on the planet," he bragged. "We out-entertain everybody; the whole world will willingly pay to watch our stuff. And they do."
"Well," I reported back to him after settling in China. "Everybody pays but the Chinese. You can buy a pirated version of any best selling movie or book that was made into a movie virtually a week after it comes out, for peanuts. The Chinese do not respect copyright laws; they claim it is the will of the masses to skip payments and provide affordable goods for their poor."
Well, China isn't poor anymore, despite their protestations. Is a country that builds nuclear power plants and sends men into space poor? China has the fourth largest economy in the world and is expected to soon surpass Germany. The country has magnificently morphed into a production giant faster and better than any other country in the world. But now the red giant is feeling the same aches and pains other developed countries felt: piracy, pollution, and employees. China has blithely swiped patents, copyrights and ideas that the rest of the world was obliged to pay millions to develop and beaucoup bucks to install or view.
The Chinese government doesn't seriously police intellectual property rights. Officials have, in effect, created a vast global subsidy (just as the Chinese banks subsidize national industries) available to every Chinese citizen. For entertainment and work purposes billions of dollars of counterfeit computer programs, CDs, and DVDs are very cheaply mass-produced nationwide. The government's defense in regard to computer programs, such as the prestigious Adobe Suite (25RMB; I paid US$299 for only non-pirated Photoshop), states that because the average Chinese can't afford the program, Adobe hasn't literally lost money at all.
This mentality is colonial. But have the western nations, once the great colonial powers of the world, acted any differently? British, Dutch and French armies voyaged deep into the heart of Africa, excavating the most valuable assets: diamonds, hardwoods, even humanity, and in doing so, undermined the Africans' abilities to defend themselves or counterattack. The Spanish and the English acted similarly in North America and South America, even decimating the indigenous populations. Pointing fingers at China for a lack of ethics, immoral business practices and just downright foul play has no real moral value coming from countries that have done the same or worse in their own business histories.
While western nations shout and point fingers, they are also investing billions of dollars, allowing special economic concessions, along with subsidized technology training programs. By betting on China as the next world's manufacturing marketplace, western nations are practically giving away expertise, infrastructure, machines and technology in exchange for polluting up the place. The world is greedy and self-serving; everyone wants a piece of the low wage China action. And because they cannot force China to behave, the western nations are willing to treat her as a coy mistress, bestowing favors in hopes of larger rewards.
China's economy continues to boom at unprecedented rates. She has entered the world's largest markets, merged with multinationals and created her own brands. Obviously the country has created alluring entertainment standards, or the Japanese would not have stolen those TV shows. China, as the victim of humiliating colonization attempts from various western powers, like a violated woman, feels no remorse at all by pilfering property from the world.
But the country has reached a higher level of prosperity, a standard where her own goods are seen fit to be pilfered. Can China, the now audacious but still defensive super power, really shout: "foul" at Japan or anyone else?
David Baker said; "I think we always move from imitation to assimilation to innovation, but I can't name you 20 people outside those we've already recognized who ever got to point three: innovation." As China's star rises in the economic universe will the country continue to repeat the colonial mistakes of the west? Piracy, environmental destruction and inadequate health coverage: all these kinds of neglectful issues could easily transform China's star into a fleeting comet. By dint of population and a focus on higher education, the country now has droves of intelligent, trained scholars. Unfortunately many creative Chinese fear that their own people will pirate their work and will only design games for cell phones because they can't be copied. Without inspiring in these innovators a drive to design the very best technologies, the highest quality manufactured goods, the most alluring entertainment, without a desire to strive for excellence the nation is doomed. Not just China but the entire world will suffer.
(China.org.cn by Valerie Sartor, August 28, 2007)
