Dr. Jyh-An Lee, CCHK Legal Lead, in his recent article, provides a tripartite perspective on the copyright ecology based on three categories of sharing, namely unauthorised sharing, altruistic sharing, and freemium sharing.
In the article, Dr. Lee tries to observe the copyright ecosystem from different angles. The article mentions that more than two thousand years ago, Mencius aligned with Xuan Monarch of Qi and said: "Joys shared with others are more enjoyed." was actually relating to music sharing. Although there existed no copyright system, the sharing and exclusiveness of music could indeed reflect the power structure and resource allocation in society.
Dr. Lee's depiction ranges from Louis Cha Jing-yong to Jay Chou and Silence Wang. In the past two decades, much literature on copyright has pointed out that the boundaries between copyright owners and users are becoming blurred, and his article attempts to figure out another trend that online platforms and copyright owners are beginning to gradually merge. The online platform is actively investing in copyright, such as Netflix, iQiyi and Youku. This emerging industrial model differs from the strategy that YouTube has defined itself as a pure platform provider, and at the same time it will cause the online copyright industry to reshuffle.
More information can be found as below.
Jyh-An Lee, Tripartite Perspective on the Copyright-Sharing Economy in China, Computer Law & Security Review (2019). Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2019.05.001.
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