Content area
Full text
Cultural consumers and copyright
Edited by Dr. Hye-Kung Lee
Introduction
Chinese Online Literature is a genre that was born digital as a fan-generated phenomenon. It has roots in the centrally controlled system of cultural production introduced by the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) after 1949, which restricted access to literature that was not considered politically sound or morally uplifting, such as fantasy, romance novels or ghost stories and which inadvertently created a demand for self-published amateur fiction that could be accessed online. It is mainly comprised of original serialised fiction, written by armature writers for communities of fellow enthusiasts and intended for digital distribution. Although online literature began as a popular grass-roots movement that was largely free from commercial ambition among either authors or web site operators, as audiences have grown and wider processes of economic reform have deepened, a formal online literature industry has begun to emerge.
The formation of a publishing industry in the UK was associated with pressure for the creation of rights to make copies of works that authors would then be able to sell or license out ([3], [4] Deazley, 2004, 2008). As Ronan [3], [4] Deazley (2004, 2008), has discussed, until authors were granted these rights it was not possible for publishers to acquire copyright from authors or to engage in the onward sale and licensing of creative works. Similarly, as opportunities to profit from online literature in China are growing, copyright is becoming more important to profit-motivated intermediaries that are attempting to develop businesses based on trading digital content. These businesses have begun lobbying heavily for the more effective enforcement of copyright, claiming that the free sharing of content by users is killing their industry. The largest of these digital intermediaries is Shengda Literature (Graphic 1 [Figure omitted. See Article Image.]), which claims that it is losing up to a billion Yuan (US$158 million) annually as a result of copyright infringement ([13] Li and Liu, 2011).
Unlike other areas of publishing, the content that digital intermediaries in the emerging online literature market are attempting to trade is being generated by creative user communities. Furthermore, online literature in China is also associated with the proliferation of profit-making web sites that are simply ignoring copyright and finding other ways to...