Online discounter joining fight against book pirates

Pinduoduo will link up with publishers, establish copyright protection channel

Chinese online discounter Pinduoduo recently announced that it will cooperate with publishing houses to fight against pirated books.

The move came after an agreement signed earlier this month between Pinduoduo and two anti-piracy alliances, one of which includes 15 Beijing-based publishing houses and the other made up of 36 children's publishing houses nationwide.

With the agreement, Pinduoduo will establish a copyright protection channel for members of the two alliances.

The three parties will fight infringements through cooperation in investigating infringement complaints, working with law enforcement and conducting industry research.

Copyright protection cooperation between the traditional copyright industry and e-commerce platforms is a win-win pattern, said Cai Jiwan, deputy director of the Shanghai Copyright Administration.

The agreement is an effective, long-term method of protecting copyrights on e-commerce platforms, he said.

Wang Zhigang, deputy director of the People's Education Press, told the new media platform Economic View that the agreement represents a trend of collaboration between rights holders and online platforms in copyright protection.

"The internet will become an important shield for anti-piracy management," he said.

Duan Yuping, deputy director of the copyright management division at the National Copyright Administration, said that the collaborative agreement is an efficient exploration for the copyright protection institution on e-commerce platforms.

It sets a shining example for cooperation between e-commerce platforms and the publishing industry, she said.

"Combating copyright infringement is a complicated task," she said, adding that the NCA will continue to encourage copyright holders to set up protection institutions with online commercial platforms.

In July, the NCA joined hands with other authorities to issue a guideline implementing a four month specific action to protect against copyright infringement in sectors including short videos, online reproduction and e-commerce platforms.

Since August, Pinduoduo has closed a total of 6,785 online stores that sold pirated goods and removed nearly 4.2 million pirated products, according to the company.

Xu Dandan, senior vicepresident of Pinduoduo, said the company will work with rights holders of books to explore new measurements and the institution of IP protection in the cyber space.

In October, e-commerce giant Alibaba also signed an agreement with the anti-piracy alliance comprised of the 15 Beijing-based publishing houses to ensure preventive protection for books' copyrights through internet technologies and datum of the publishing house.

The need to respect and protect copyrights online has become a common consensus in the industry, Xinhua quoted an official of the NCA as saying.

liangkaiyan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/22/2018 page17)