On 04/24/11 9:35 AM, David Gerard wrote:
Baidu Baike clearly have a considerable potential liability in terms of violation of copyright, including under Chinese law (assuming CC by-sa holds up).
If they're traded on the stock market in Hong Kong (or anywhere else)
- have they filed appropriate notices with the relevant financial
oversight bodies noting this outstanding potential liability? If not, why not, and could they be in danger of penalties for not having done so?
Reading through this thread only reveals how thoroughly fucked up copyright law really is! The Baidu situation does point to a prima facie case of copyright infringement and blatant plagiarism, but we can do no better than the inhabitants of Flatland after their world was struck by a three-dimensional object. In theory the writers of collaborative material have a right of action against the infringers, or against those who violate the moral right of attribution. In practical terms, if the owner can be identified the costs prosecuting violations on the other side of the world are so far out of proportion to any potential maximum penalty as to turn any such action into a fool's errand, even in a class action. Nevertheless, when we apply the law to ourselves it's with such exactitude that we put ourselves in an immediate disadvantage.
Ray