Overview
Poor enforcement of international intellectual property law in non-Western countries is typically blamed on national-level institutional, political, and cultural contexts. However, there are other factors at play, producing uneven efficacy of transplanted laws within a nation. Greyscale Legality analyzes how and why legal transplants perish or thrive by critically examining the application of international IP law across six industries in China. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, Qiaoling He investigates widely differing degrees of IP enforcement in areas such as biomedicine, telecom equipment, and film. She argues that laws, as drafted, function on a greyscale of interpretive and operative ambiguity within the industries where they are applied. National settings may not always be supportive of IP law transplants in reducing such ambiguity, but certain industry-specific directives, such as product standardization, can compensate. Greyscale Legality is an astute study of ways to alleviate legal greyness and generate pockets of legal effectiveness. Its findings can be applied beyond China to other developing countries and other legal areas.
Full Product Details
Author: Qiaoling He
Publisher: University of British Columbia Press
Imprint: University of British Columbia Press
ISBN: 9780774871709
ISBN 10: 0774871709
Pages: 222
Publication Date: 15 August 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
College/higher education
,
Professional & Vocational
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
""This pioneering book explores the fascinating concept of 'greyscale legality' through a combination of compelling empirical data and an elegant theoretical approach.""-- ""Sida Liu, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong"" ""With extensive fieldwork and fine-grained description, Greyscale Legality offers rare insight into the complex political economy of China. A lively and interesting read.""-- ""Omar Ramon Serrano Oswald, Business School, Bern University of Applied Sciences""
Author Information
Qiaoling He is an assistant professor in the Sociology Department at Zhejiang University. She is a council member of the Institute of Entertainment Law Research, Beijing, and the recipient of several honours and awards, among them the International Development Research Center (IDRC) Doctoral Research Award and McGill University's Clifford C.F. Wong Fellowship. Her work on intellectual property laws in China has appeared in Social Problems and the Asian Journal of Law and Society.
