A Study On The Modernization Of Chinese Copyright Law As Seen In The Copyright Dispute Case Of Myers'General History

In 1909,a copyright dispute arose between Jing en and the Commercial Press over the reprinting of books such as Myers' General History,and the two parties could not reach an agreement in their letters The United States through the grace of the company to the Commercial Press Mixed Court in Shanghai,to obtain a legitimate interest.The Shanghai commercial press responded positively,hired a lawyer to carry on the defense,and submitted the dispute situation to the government.The Mixed Court of Shanghai,having accepted the case,made a submission to the court in accordance with the law and the facts,stating that the Commercial Press did not constitute a tort.The case was based on the copyright law of the Great Qing Dynasty and the sino-us Treaty on trade and shipping.Article twenty-eight of the copyright law of the Great Qing Dynasty states:"If a Chinese translation is made from a foreign work,the translator shall own the copyright."and the Copyright Law of the Commercial Press contains no provisions concerning copyright disputes between China and foreign countries.Therefore,according to the copyright law of the Qing Dynasty,the copyright law of the Qing Dynasty does not constitute infringement.Article 11 of the sino-us Treaty of renegotiation on Trade and shipping provides that:"If Americans specifically write books for the Chinese,or if Americans translate books into Chinese,they shall enjoy the protection of Chinese copyright law.,According to this clause of the treaty,Myers,General History is not a book specifically written for the Chinese,and therefore it does not apply to the renewal of the sino-american Treaty on trade and shipping.The case was based on the fact that China was not a party to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and was not bound by its rules.In the social aspect,the Shanghai Book Chamber of Commerce and the Commercial Press presented their opinions on the case in the course of the case The case prompted the Shanghai Book Chamber of Commerce and other non-governmental organizations to actively defend China's interests in the subsequent copyright disputes between China and foreign countries,while also making non-governmental publishers attach importance to copyright and develop legal awareness.In the legal aspect,the case made the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Shanghai Road and other local governments pay attention to the copyright,which provided a solution to the copyright disputes between China and foreign countries,and also affected the copyright legislation.The three characteristics of the modernization of China's copyright law can be clarified by the copyright dispute case in Myers'General History.First,external pressure type,China's feudal period up to the early Qing Dynasty copyright protection is mainly to protect the rights of private publishers to copy and distribute by administrative announcement,strictly prohibit others to copy and pirate.The signing of the unequal treaty at the end of the Qing Dynasty led to the loss of sovereignty,the judicial independence of the Consulates in extraterritorial jurisdictions,and frequent copyright disputes,which led the Qing government to attach passive importance to copyright Under the pressure of external forces to proceed with the copyright legislation.Second,legal transplantation.In the Copyright Law of Moderm China,the meaning of the legal term"works",the object of the works,the term of copyright protection,the rights and obligations,and the prohibition of punishment and so on,are mainly transplanted into Japanese law At the same time in the copyright legislation has also drawn on the western spirit of individualism,liberalism,rationalism spirit.Third,the state-led,China's copyright law modernization is the government-led and non-governmental organizations play a role in the process.The government carries on the official system reform,the determination legislation procedure,formulates the copyright law.In the judicial aspect,the government has reformed the judicial system,established the four-level three-instance system,and settled the copyright dispute.On the administrative side,the Ministry of Civil Affairs is responsible for the registration of works,and the Ministry of Education is responsible for adding a genuine sign on textbooks.Based on the case analysis and the characteristics of the modernization of copyright law,three historical inspirations can be drawn from the modernization of China's Copyright Law:First,the establishment of modern copyright law was a gradual process,from the first administrative notice to protect the civil copyright to the copyright clause in Chinese and foreign treaties,then to the domestic copyright legislation,and constantly improve.Second,properly learning from foreign copyright law experience is conducive to the improvement of China's Copyright Law of South Korea,learning from and transplanting is a way to learn from foreign advanced legal systems,appropriate learning from and based on national conditions is conducive to the improvement of domestic legal systems.Finally,the Perfect Copyright Law of South Korea contributes to the prosperity and development of culture and economy,the Copyright Law protects the personal rights and property rights of the author,and also provides the way of relief for the infringed,which is conducive to the promotion of the author's creative enthusiasm Promoting the development of cultural and educational undertakings.