A renowned Taiwanese author has accused Chinese state-owned publishers of pirating a book he spent five years writing and not paying him any royalties.
Lu Tzu-yang (呂自揚) published the three-volume Analysis of Poetry and Quotations from the Past (歷代詩詞名句析賞探源) between 1979 and 1981 through his own publishing house, Hopan Book Publishing. A three-in-one version of the book came out in 1984.
Lu says the book has been a bestseller since publication.
Photo: Su Fu-nan, Taipei Times
The first pirated edition in Taiwan came out in 1982. Though Lu took the case to court, it took him nearly 15 years to be compensated.
China’s Mongolian People’s Publishing House re-edited the three books into a two-volume edition and published a pirated version in 1994. According to an article on Yahoo News, Greater Taichung-based Chen Hsing Publishing House claimed to have bought the copyright from the Chinese publisher and printed it in Taiwan.
Lu sued Chen Hsing and the High Court’s final ruling was delivered recently, Lu said, adding that the case had set a record for the largest reparation given for pirating a single book.
It also set a precedent as a book that was copied, pirated by a foreign publishing house, brought back to Taiwan by a local publishing house and “re-pirated,” Lu said.
Lu said the pirated version from Mongolian People’s Publishing House was not the only one, and that Chinese state-owned Beijing Writers Press had also come out with a pirated version a decade ago which had not altered a word from the original. The only difference was that the traditional Chinese characters were changed into simplified Chinese.
He said he recently learned that National Taiwan University (NTU), National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) all have the simplified Chinese versions of the book.
“The Beijing Writers Press contacted me through a publishing house in Taipei asking for my authorization to print the book in China and said they would give me 8 percent as royalty,” Lu said.
He added that he said he would authorize the publishing house to print in China, if they paid the royalties for all the copies that were pirated prior to contacting him.
“The Beijing Writers Press did not agree and I did not authorize them,” Lu said.
“The copyright page in copies of the book bought in China by my friends show that 140,000 copies were printed for soft and hardcover editions in December 1986. A total of 260,000 copies were made in July 1987 for the first print, with three subsequent reprints,” Lu said.
It is very possible that millions of pirated copies have been printed, Lu said.
“Everyone in the cultural publishing sector knows that the Chinese market is overflowing with pirated books by Taiwanese authors,” Lu said, adding that while some had suggested that he sue the press in a Chinese court, he had little hope this would succeed.
“I’ve been going to court for the past three decades over piracy cases in Taiwan and in all that time I’ve been looked down on by judges, spent a lot of money and have gotten little justice in return. How could I possibly complain about piracy in China?” Lu said.
Citing the examples of writers Luo Lan (羅蘭), writer of the bestseller Luo Lan Xiao Yu (羅蘭小語), and Bo Yang (柏楊), author of Alien Lands (異域), both of whom went to China to complained about piracy, Lu said Luo Lan only received the equivalent of several thousand NT dollars in compensation, while Bo Yang received US$20,000 the first year, a sum that dropped to only a few hundred US dollars in the second year.
While the National Copyright Administration of the People’s Republic of China has made repeated calls since 1988 to have all administrations in provinces make an account of what is owed Taiwanese authors from piracy and pay the royalties owed them, so far the state-owned Beijing Writers Press has not heeded those calls, Lu said, adding that he was disgusted with the publishing house.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS