Exceptions to Copyright Right Infringement in China: Ringtones and Ringback Tones

Anna-Lucille Montgomery is a doctoral candidate and researcher at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia’s Creative Industries Research and Applications Center. She is writing Copyright, Creativity and Economic Development – Intellectual Property and the Creative Industries in Post-WTO China. Now she has just given a preview at Asia Times Online.

She gives a great overview of the different technical circumstances in China that are conducive for copyright infringement. Digital Rights Manegement seems not to work very well in China, exept for ringtones and ringback tones.

Astoundingly, ringtone downloads and ringback tones have arguably become more significant as a source of income for many Chinese music industry players than royalties from album sales. Artist management services, which allow record labels to capitalize on advertising, publicity and concert fees generated by their stars, are also much more significant in the Chinese music industry than they are in markets where intellectual property rights are easier to enforce.

Read Montgomery’s article here.

In 2005 Montgomery wrote: Online music markets in China: The broader picture and the role of copyright and DRM, pg 4-8, INDICARE (INformed DIalogue about Consumer Acceptability of DRM in Europe), here.

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