"Pay copyright fees to Wu Chengen"?
(Voice of Readers)
Some time ago, an online platform marked "This work is authorised by the author (Ming) Wu Chengen" on the homepage of "Journey to the West", "Copyright infringement must be investigated", "Signature", "VIP" and other words, and other readers received "Cao Xueqin" Invitation to purchase paid chapters" and other invitations.
Once the matter was exposed, it caused widespread concern.
"Wu Chengen is resurrected? Cao Xueqin is reincarnated?" Many netizens left messages on the online platform, and some netizens bluntly: You have turned "Journey to the West" and "Dream of Red Mansions" into "Liao Zhai", and there are monsters of interest everywhere.
"Journey to the West" and "A Dream of Red Mansions" are all classics that have been passed down through the ages. The author has already passed away. How can we "authorize" this online platform?
According to the provisions of the Chinese Copyright Law, the rights of publication, reproduction, distribution, rental, information network communication, adaptation, translation, compilation, etc. of citizens’ works shall be protected for the life of the author and 50 years after his death.
In other words, anyone can use "work that has exceeded the term of protection" without infringing on the author's personal rights.
Traditional publishing houses need to pay the cost of re-typesetting, binding design, paper and ink, printing and distribution of public edition books such as "Journey to the West" and "A Dream of Red Mansions". Readers pay for "book production costs".
As an online literature platform, it can naturally provide reading services for "Journey to the West" and "A Dream of Red Mansions", and charge a small amount of input and proofreading labor costs, but it cannot earn so-called "copyright fees" in the name of the author.
According to this statement, does the publisher also need to obtain authorization from the "Wu Chengen"?
The author of "A Dream of Red Mansions" is still controversial, so who should apply for authorization?
And when this online platform published "Journey to the West" and "Dream of Red Mansions", who authorized it?
Could it be that they went to the underworld to find "Wu Chengen" who signed the contract?
Paid?
In the Internet age, digital reading has become more and more deeply integrated into our lives, and "Internet paid reading" has also begun to emerge. This is a good thing.
Encourage online originality, encourage "paid reading" that respects knowledge, should be measured, not extreme, and prevent some people from playing "online paid reading" badly.