ChinaNews.com client Beijing, May 8 (Reporter Song Yusheng) The latest Internet news is very calm. First of all, the free online text caused controversy, and the contract between the reading group and the author of the online text was also referred to as the "overlord clause". What has happened to the Internet literature behind these topics recently?

Reading Group "Forcibly push free"?

　　Things still need to start with the adjustment of the senior reading group at the end of April.

　　On April 27, Yuewen Group announced the adjustment of the management team. Then there was a voice on the Internet that Yuewen Group launched a "new contract" for creators, which was accused of having many "overlord clauses."

　　At the same time, there are rumors that reading the text will change the paid reading mode of online literary works and "forcefully promote free reading". This means that the income of web writers may be affected, and some readers worry that there will be fewer and fewer high-quality web writers, and the original ecology of web literature will be destroyed.

Screenshot of Yuewen Group's official website

　　On May 2, the new team of Reading Group responded to related discussions and questions.

　　The note pointed out, "Since the new team took office, we firmly believe that we must consolidate and maintain the payment model and explore innovative models." The statement also said that the outside world rumored reading "all free reading" is not It may not be realistic, please don't believe it.

　　For the hotly discussed contracts on the Internet, the above description pointed out: The contract that everyone is discussing is a contract launched in September 2019. It is not a new contract that was launched on April 28, 2020, as rumours suggest.

　　The reporter noticed that the statement did not deny the authenticity of the contract, and also promised that "will communicate extensively with the writers, we will make corresponding amendments to unreasonable terms."

Screenshots of the WeChat article on "Faces will change, dreams will not—to online literature writers"

　　On May 3, Tang Jiasan, a member of the Bureau of the Chinese Writers Association and an online writer, also spoke on the matter.

　　Tang Jiasan said frankly, if reading all works for free, this is the act of self-destructing the Great Wall. "I really think the possibility is very small." He also said that individuals do not support reading for free at all, and their works will not.

"Fifth Five-Year Breaking Festival" and Reading Conference

　　But the voices of the parties did not calm down the online debate, and the discussions triggered by the "new contract" continued to ferment.

　　According to media reports, on May 5th, some web writers launched the “Fifty-Five-Five-Year Renovation” on Weibo, Zhihu and other online platforms.

Weibo screenshot

　　The host of Weibo topic # 55 断 更 节 # made it clear in his Weibo that the "Fifth Five-Year Break" is to "resist" the reading group's "hegemonic contract" and "maintain the legal rights of the writers".

　　And on the night of the 5th, Tencent Technology published an article "Reading Group's response to related rumors".

　　Among them, it is clear again that "total free" is impossible and unrealistic. The article also said that "well-known authors have changed one after another for some reason".

　　On May 6, the reading group responded once again, saying that “the author was taken away from the copyright” and “all social accounts of the author belong to the reading article” circulating on the Internet are rumors.

　　In response to the "Fifth Five-Year Break", Reading Group stated that it is normal for individual online literary authors to ask for leave and occasionally break due to personal affairs, writing status adjustments, etc .; the update data of the works on the day of reading did not fluctuate abnormally. Take any operational measures that have been rumored by the outside world, including modification time, threats after the change is not recommended.

Screenshot of Yuewen Group's rumor statement

　　Among them, the reading group also said, "We will sincerely listen to outside opinions, but reserve the right to pursue legal rumours on vicious rumours. I hope everyone can clearly distinguish between the truth and the truth, and speak rationally."

　　On the evening of the 6th, the reading group published an article on the new management's discussion meeting with several writers on the same day.

　　The article said that in view of the unreasonable points left over from the contract in the past years, it should and must be amended, "the author's due power should be clearly stated in the terms."

　　The mechanism of free reading is still under discussion, and writers can choose free or paid models in the future. "For the existing contracts, we have made clear the direction of modification in terms of copyright authorization, rights-sharing under the free model, writer benefits and piracy, etc. More specific modifications will be confirmed after a series of roundtable discussions and writer research, and in 1 A new version of the contract will be launched within a month. "

After the first round-table conference, the new management of Yuewen Group announced the reform of the old contract. Screenshot of WeChat article

What's wrong with Wangwenjianghu?

　　Counting from the end of April, this debate about online literature has been going on for more than a week. But in fact, in the eyes of many online literature researchers, this "burst" is not accidental.

　　This year's "Internet Literature 2018-2019: Deep Cultivation in the Soil of the" Fan Economy "" published in "Chinese Literature Criticism" has pointed out that 2018 and 2019 are quite serious two years for online literature.

China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) released the 45th "Statistical Report on China Internet Development Status". The use of Internet literature applications ranked sixth. Report screenshot

　　As stated in the article, in the development of Chinese online literature for more than 20 years, the core driving force of development is the original production mechanism based on the fan economy. The core fans are those with stable payment habits and active participation.

　　Shao Yanjun, the first author of the article and a professor of the Chinese Department of Peking University who has long studied online literature, also clearly stated in an interview with a reporter from China News that the reason why the development of online literature in China can achieve today's achievements is thanks to VIP payment. Mechanism-based fan economy.

　　Correspondingly, the number of paying users has continued to decline in recent years. In March of this year, some media reported that the average monthly paying users of Reading Group had dropped from 11.1 million in 2017 to 9.8 million last year. In January this year, a report also pointed out that the number of paid reading users continued to decline, while the number of free reading users continued to grow.

Screenshot of Yuewen Group's official website

　　If this kind of situation can still be maintained as a circle hobby while online literature is still a "subculture"; then, as online literature becomes more and more "significant" and large capital continues to intervene, the number of paying readers declines Adjustments will be triggered.

　　Ji Yunfei, a Ph.D. in the Chinese Department of Peking University who participated in the writing of "Internet Literature 2018-2019," told China News that when the ceiling of online literature paid reading is already obvious, many long-standing backlogs in the field of online literature have also emerged. . This naturally includes copyright issues that are hotly discussed by everyone, and issues concerning the distribution of interests between platforms and authors.

　　Shao Yanjun bluntly said that these problems can actually be summarized as "the conflict between the web enthusiast website and the logic of big capital." She also admits that because of the rise of other forms of entertainment such as short video in recent years, the development of Internet has indeed reached a bottleneck.

　　"Literature is not the most favored model in the Internet age, it is actually weak. But the development of Chinese Internet literature is a miracle, and the foundation for all this is not only a large number of writers, but also core fans who participate in paid reading. "In the view of Shao Yanjun, canceling paid reading will definitely shake this foundation. The reading roundtable held on the 6th also confirmed that the author can choose between free or paid models.

Screenshot of Weiwen Group Weibo

　　Shao Yanjun is now worried that, in the face of the new adjustments led by large capitals, it is difficult for the authors of grass-roots web articles who are already at a disadvantage to have the corresponding bargaining power. "They are the base of online literature and the future of online text. They are the source of living water. The new authors are all low-level authors, but they also have the possibility of becoming" great gods. "Good mechanisms should enable them to maintain their lives. At the same time, there is dignity as a writer. If you do not regard the bottom author as the author, it will be difficult for the new author to 'become a great god', and there will be no future for the web. The height of the spire depends on the base. width."

　　Ji Yunfei believes that no matter what the outcome of this debate will be and any changes to the contract, this incident has already become the beginning of an in-depth adjustment of the online literature industry.

　　And the future trend seems to be very clear, big capital will be more and more deeply involved in the field of network literature.

　　But the question is: Can such a network of rivers and lakes be called "jianghu"? (Finish)