OPINION> FROM THE CHINESE PRESS
Protecting media's right
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-17 07:43

We should strictly implement the Copyright Law to put an end to the free usage of print content by Internet media, says an article in the China Youth Daily. Following is an excerpt:

When the public is quite concerned about copyright, it indicates the progress of its society.

But the reality is quite different. The copyright owned by the printing press is evaporating in the era of the large-scale copies of cyberspace, the random revision of content and the omission of the names of authors.

On the one hand, some print media feel proud of the fact that the Internet copies their articles without buying the copyright, for their articles can attract more readers via the Internet. They tend to ignore the copyright infringement by Internet media, but strangely, they cannot tolerate it if their printing peers dare do the same.

On the other hand, Internet media only respect copyright when their copyrighted content gets mimicked or recopied by other Internet media outlets. They never respect the copyright of the printing press.

Of course, the sharing of content among media outlets is caused by market mechanisms and it is contributing to the efficient allocation of resources. Admittedly, the Internet media dug their first bucket of gold by illegally copying the contents of print; but now print can no longer tolerate this act when they are facing an unpredictable future and their Internet media peers continue to make profits by affecting their copyright interests.

Quite a number of media have recently been quoting the news from China Daily that Google, the Internet search giant, lost a case in Belgium for violating the copyright of 18 local newspapers. Google was told to delete its illegally recopied links and content. It set a good example for China.

The revision of the Copyright Law was already passed eight years ago and we should strictly put it into practice. It is impossible for print to serve as the free source for Internet media forever.

(China Daily 04/17/2009 page8)