Overview

A detailed historical look at how copyright was negotiated and protected by authors, publishers, and the state in late imperial and modern China In Pirates and Publishers, Fei-Hsien Wang reveals the unknown social and cultural history of copyright in China from the 1890s through the 1950s, a time of profound sociopolitical changes. Wang draws on

Full Product Details

Author:   Fei-Hsien Wang
Publisher:   Princeton University Press
Imprint:   Princeton University Press
Volume:   6
ISBN:  

9780691171821

ISBN 10:   0691171823
Pages:   368
Publication Date:   01 October 2019
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General/trade ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
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Language:   English

Table of Contents

Reviews

Wang's book . . . is [an] equally fundamental (soon to be called seminal, I believe) piece of literature as Alford's title. Wang's monograph dug into extreme depth. ---Peter Mezei, Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice What Wang does offer, through both standard resources and a unique cross-referencing of Booksellers Guild records with the Shanghai Municipal Archives, is forgotten slice of China's economic and cultural history, largely presented here-at least by the standards of copyright law-as a rollicking read. ---Ken Smith, Asian Review of Books Wang's book adds substantially both to long-standing and more recent general historical scholarship on modern China. . . . Wang uses her archival and published sources to make original, insightful, even brilliant arguments that, while clearly located within recognizable lineages of empirical social, cultural, and legal historiography, also extend that historiography in innovative and important ways. Wang writes vigorous yet nuanced jargon-free narrative and analytical prose. She knows how to tell a story. Her writing in this book will undoubtedly appeal to both scholars and laymen. ---Christopher A. Reed, Journal of Chinese History Runner-Up Commendation for the DeLong Book History Book Prize, Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing

Richly detailed, this social history reconstructs the meanings of copyright in modern China as they were understood by authors, publishers, and the state, and the strategies developed by these players to protect it. Intellectual property and copyright are hot topics, and this masterfully organized book provides insights into issues still very much in contest. --Cynthia Brokaw, Brown University This well-researched social and cultural history looks at the emerging modern Chinese system of copyright law and practice from the late nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries. Shedding fresh light on an important and underexamined topic, this outstanding work makes a valuable contribution to the history of modern China, comparative study of law and copyright, and the history of the book and print culture. --Li Chen, University of Toronto

Offering an inspired look through the archives and back rooms of the publishing worlds of Shanghai and Beijing, Pirates and Publishers is a wonderfully wise introduction to the complexities of China's adoption of copyright. Wang not only lucidly unravels the twists and turns of this idea's fate in a country afflicted with chronic disorder, but also uses her findings to retell with considerable wit and flair much of modern China's intellectual and cultural history. A tour de force and a pleasure to read. -Joseph McDermott, University of Cambridge This well-researched social and cultural history looks at the emerging modern Chinese system of copyright law and practice from the late nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries. Shedding fresh light on an important and underexamined topic, this outstanding work makes a valuable contribution to the history of modern China, comparative study of law and copyright, and the history of the book and print culture. -Li Chen, University of Toronto Richly detailed, this social history reconstructs the meanings of copyright in modern China as they were understood by authors, publishers, and the state, and the strategies developed by these players to protect it. Intellectual property and copyright are hot topics, and this masterfully organized book provides insights into issues still very much in contest. -Cynthia Brokaw, Brown University Pirates and Publishers may well be the most important book on intellectual property in China ever to be published in English. With deep research and sharp analysis, Wang overturns conventional wisdom about the incompatibility of copyright with Chinese culture, and shows instead how authors and publishers fought hard to protect their livelihoods. Anyone interested in the information economy in China will find this book revelatory and indispensable. -Adrian Johns, University of Chicago

This well-researched social and cultural history looks at the emerging modern Chinese system of copyright law and practice from the late nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries. Shedding fresh light on an important and underexamined topic, this outstanding work makes a valuable contribution to the history of modern China, comparative study of law and copyright, and the history of the book and print culture. Li Chen, University of Toronto Richly detailed, this social history reconstructs the meanings of copyright in modern China as they were understood by authors, publishers, and the state, and the strategies developed by these players to protect it. Intellectual property and copyright are hot topics, and this masterfully organized book provides insights into issues still very much in contest. Cynthia Brokaw, Brown University

This well-researched social and cultural history looks at the emerging modern Chinese system of copyright law and practice from the late nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries. Shedding fresh light on an important and underexamined topic, this outstanding work makes a valuable contribution to the history of modern China, comparative study of law and copyright, and the history of the book and print culture. --Li Chen, University of Toronto Richly detailed, this social history reconstructs the meanings of copyright in modern China as they were understood by authors, publishers, and the state, and the strategies developed by these players to protect it. Intellectual property and copyright are hot topics, and this masterfully organized book provides insights into issues still very much in contest. --Cynthia Brokaw, Brown University

Author Information

Fei-Hsien Wang is assistant professor of history at Indiana University, Bloomington. She is also a research associate at the Centre for History and Economics at the University of Cambridge.

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