Chinese collective management of copyright: the need for extensive changes

Abstract

It has been more than twenty years since the founding of China's first collective management organization (CMO). To become well established, however, CMOs have a long way to go. The primary problem is rooted not only in the fact that CMOs are state controlled rather than fully member operated, but also in the poor design of the Chinese system for collective management of copyright. Chinese CMOs have encountered so many difficulties that change must be considered. Such change may involve either reform or revolution. In a reform, the supervision of Chinese CMOs would be strengthened and made more effective. In a revolution, CMOs’ authorized monopoly would be broken up to create a free market. In China, a good choice might be an authorized oligopoly (the so-called third path) that builds on the relatively successful experience of the Chinese telecommunications industry. No matter which type of reform is chosen, market-oriented characteristics should be stressed.