stripped: beijing youth whips out story about nude men
this cartoon recently appeared in the beijing youth daily (beijing qingnian bao) newspaper, which claims to have a paid daily circulation of 600,000. the cartoon accompanied english and chinese versions of one of my recent posts. it had to do with nudity in locker rooms.
this is the second time one of my blog “stories” has appeared in a chinese newspaper. and it’s the second time it happened without my permission. actually, a nice editor from the BYD emailed me asking for permission to run the locker room story. she even offered to pay me 300 yuan ($36!) for it. a week later, i responded with “sure.” but i insisted that she give my website a plug, too. (she initially saw the piece over at living in china.)
she said she would have been happy to do that. one problem: she already ran the story.
oh.
journalists get pissed off when this sort of thing happens. you see, where i come from, shit like this — printing another person’s intellectual property without his permission (granted, “intellectual” is likely not appropriate for most of my work) — is illegal. but, according to the BYD editor — who was very sweet, mind you — ain’t no such laws in china. according to her, anything that is printed elsewhere is fair game, as long as the initial publication is credited and you offer to float the writer three maojamins.
really?
so, i asked her: what you’re telling me is that there is nothing stopping a chinese newspaper from reprinting entire stories from the new york times word for word, or even entire issues, as long as they say all this shit came from the new york times? yep, she said, and there’s a chinese paper that does it.
i haven’t checked the validity her remarks. i’m not really sure how to check on the chinese laws regarding this stuff. but it really wouldn’t surprise me if what she said was true. i mean, tonight i just bought four bootleg DVDs — the barbarian invasions, thirteen, rasing victor vargas and kagemusha — for a total of $4. who the hell am i to complain about intellectual property laws?
anyway, for all my readers who read chinese, here is the chinese version of the story that ran in the BYD. i’m curious to hear how seinfeld references translate.
and by the way, i’m still waiting for my 300 yuan. it’s all about the maojamins, baby.
04.08.2004, 1:24 AM · Observations, Politics
6 Comments
hey man..i stumbled upon your page and i have fallen in love with it due to the fact that you are living the life i want to live when i graduate from college (next year) i’m actually visiting shanghai in may for a week with one of my classes and im interested in knowing where the night life and hidden treasures are at. i know you are hen mang but if ni you kong please let me know. xie xie.
I stumbled upon your page a few months ago and have enjoyed reading ever since. I looked at the Chinese version of the article and thought I’d pass on some observations that may be of interest. The Seinfeld stuff translates fairly well (I think), but they referred to him as a “tv host” which I thought was funny. In the comic, you’re saying “Strange, how is it that only I care about this?”. Also, they added a footnote to explain that homosexuals pay more attention to physical appearance to explain your comments about why you don’t think you’re going to a gay gym, which I found funny. Anyway, just thought you might be curious.
Of course,New York Times enjoys a copyright protection in China.
Published materials are said to be in the public domain and may be used by anyone,but it is illegal to reprint a published story from newspapers, magazines and websites without paying the author.As to news and editorial on political,economic and religious issues,one is allowed to reprint them on a reasonable scale without permission and payment.But if the author claims that no reprint without permission,then an infringement will arise if someone reprints the works without authorization,let along unauthorized alteration and other forms of exploitation.ˇˇblah,blah,blah,there is too much to go farther.Sorry it sounds like I’m preaching
.But in short,I suggest you to put up a claim “no reprint without permission”.
What she said is bullshit.Anyaway,at least now I see some prospects of my major-intellectual property rights from people like her.
kiddy wrote: “Published materials are said to be in the public domain and may be used by anyone, but it is illegal to reprint a published story from newspapers, magazines and websites without paying the author.”
but it seems like these papers set the terms. both papers that have done this to me said all they could offer was RMB 300. and basically they acted like doing so was just a courtesy. they were going to run my story whether i agreed to the RMB 300 or not (and both did).
what would happen if a writer refused the money and didn’t grant the paper the right to republish the work? or what if the writer tried to negotiate a higher fee?
do writers have any legal recourse if publications print their materials without permission and without paying a fee that is agreed upon by both parties? i doubt it.
you say i should put a “no reprint without permission” disclaimer. but i have a copyright statement at the bottom of every page. does that mean nothing?
obviously, i guess it does.
I had a snippet of mine published without any permission whatsoever in the Guangzhou Daily back in 1999. My name was there at least.
The papers are afraid you’ll bargain up the price…because this is the culture in China…whenever someone senses that you have an interest in ‘their’ property or their labour, or somehow reveal you are in a weak position, then all values go out the window, and focus goes on extracting the most from you. Therefore, arrogance has to play a big part in the game, if you want to get the cheapest price.
The best solution? Because there is NO protection from the law, go renegade. Walk into the publisher offices, explain your case with whoever you can, shout, say you’ll call the police, use as many foul words and power words in Chinese as you can, and don’t leave, sit on the floor…try to get them to pull you into the foyer and outdoors where everyone can see you being manhandled and bullied, try to make it seem like they pushed you over trash cans, pots plants and into people…shout insults to the publisher brand so as many people as possible can hear. Ok, so this way, maybe you can take back what they didn’t give.
Ok, this is untried and untested, but worth keeping in an arsenal of copyright enforcement tactics, Dan.
Best,
Simon
www.greenmonkey.com.cn
Dan,
Love your writing. As far as the reprint goes, I would be glad to represent you for free. My friend teaches law here in Shanghai. Your case, based upon several factors could be a landmark decision.
Factors would be:
1.) You have been in China for long enough time to be considered “old friend of China”.
2.) You are a professional writer.
3.) You have me, a person of redneckian descent (albiet I am of the Gamecock Variety).
4.) My Chinese is fair to midland, but my Chinese negotiation skills are exceptionally effective.
5.) Not only will you win, but the BYD will still keep face. This means no long-term effect on your reputation as a nice Chinese loving laowai.
Let me know, I only want 10% of the total, will take the case on contigency.