Chinese web literature has become another free form of literature via the media of network, and is seeing a rapid development. According to the results of the 25th Statistical Report on Internet Development in China issued by CNNIC, with a usage rate of 42.3%, the number of users of web literature has reached as many as 162,000,000, thus becoming the fourth largest network entertainment related application behind network music, Internet video and online game.
However, the web literature market is in a state of disrepair. On July 12, 2010, Wang Hui, an author of web literature with the pen name of Wuzhui, held a press conference to claim that his original fantasy novel "Luofu" (罗浮) was illegally reproduced by qidian.com, which is operated by Shanghai Xuanting Entertaiment Information & Technology Co., Ltd. under the banner of Shanda Literature. Wang Hui sued Shanghai Xuanting Entertaiment Information & Technology Co., Ltd. for unfair competition. The case attracted much attention and was regarded as the first of its kind in Chinese web literature.
In the afternoon, China IP received a response from Shanda Literature Corporation (SDL) claiming that Luofu is a Taoism term and Luofu materials published on qidian.com were serial works signed with authors who take independent creation in pen names. On one hand, Qidian’s Luofu has nothing to do with Wang Hui’s Luofu and the claimed illegal reproduction doesn’t hold water. On the other hand, qidian.com only uses the works name in the network links for general promotional purposes, which is different from promoting specific works by adding the works’ name and the author’s name. Therefore, qidian.com responded by rejecting the claim that its use limited use of Luofu was a malicious attack and commercial speculation.
According to the survey made by China IP, the dispute between qidian.com and Wang Hui arose from the fact that Wang Hui’s Luofu topped the second hits, amounting to 20,000,000 after it was first published on zongheng.com last December. Soon after Wang Hui’s Luofu became so popular, qidian.com released the network novel Luofu (written by Huanghe Jiuqu) on April 15 this year, which was soon considered recommended reading for fans of Wang Hui’s Luofu. Meanwhile, in order to promote its own serial Luofu words, qidian.com bought a promoting link on the search engine of Baidu. When readers keyed in “Luofu (罗浮)” in Baidu’s search box, the first link which appears is Qidian’s Luofu. At present, Luofu, with a number of 140,000 words and 120,000 hits on qidian.com, was not highly rated. Many fans of Luofu point out that two versions are totally different.
Wang Shaohua, Wang Hui’s lawyer, pointed out that qidian.com’s promotional method of buying a search engine link was a “free rider” abuse. He further expressed that “Defendant and its signed author intentionally make use of Wang Hui Luofu’s popularity to confuse the two works. Such an unfair competitive strategy reduces the number of hits for Wang Hui’s Luofu and infringes complaint’s legal rights.” The related materials have been brought to the attention of the courts and Wang Hui will bring a lawsuit against qidian.com under Article 5 and 9 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
The winner of this case will settle the issue of this practice. Nowadays, web literature is seeing a rapid development, which to large extent depends on large user groups and diversified business models. As the web literature market grows larger, many see the opportunity for profit and will try to capitalize on its popularity. In an addition to the cheap infringement costs, weaker laws and regulations, and deficiencies in the market, the unfair competitive environment breeds a lot of problems. Therefore, providing copyright protection for original web literature has become a focus. The above case is an indication that proper copyright protection of web literature needs new regulations to balance the benefits of future web literature authors and website operators.
By Anne Zhang, China IP
(Translated by Sarah Luo)
