People attend the book launch in Chongqing on April 22, 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Zhang Hongbo

A new book of long-form journalism, The Umbrella of Creation: Chronicle of Copyright Protection for Chinese Written Works, a collection of stories on intellectual property rights protection over the past three decades in China, was released in Southwest China's Chongqing on Monday. 

The book focuses on the legal process of the three revisions to the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China, presenting readers legal education in literary reporting. The work aims to raise people's copyright awareness. 

"The Umbrella of Creation shows that authors, rights holders, and rights holder organizations are actively participating in the development of the national copyright legal system, and that we are loyal advocates, conscious defenders, and firm defenders of the development of the rule of law in China," Zhang Hongbo, coauthor of the book and executive vice president and director general of the China Written Works Copyright Society, said at the release ceremony.

"On the other hand, it shows the achievements of our national copyright rule of law, and most importantly, it shows the value of copyright, the power of copyright, and the charm of copyright," Zhang stressed. 

Li Yanyan, the other coauthor and vice president of the Chongqing Writers ­Association, shared her own experience. Some of her friends who work as writers have been plagiarized, she recalled. 

Li Yanyan said that a fellow writer based in Chongqing, Li Haobai, told her that when he noticed his work had been plagiarized, he decided to turn to the law. 

After a more than one-year lawsuit, Li Haobai received 200,000 yuan ($27,606) in compensation. 

"The experience of these efforts in writing being infringed also prompted me to work on a long-form journalism on copyright law for written works," Li Yanyan said. 

Chen Jiangong, a veteran writer, found the new book is fairly relevant to him. 

"These case studies on copyright clearly record stories over the past 30 years and provide analyses. As readers, we can see efforts were stepped up in China to protect written works. These stories also present an outline of the implementation of China's rule of law in the copyright domain. Readers can gain a glimpse of the progress made in copyright protection," Chen said. 

Through literary narration of professional cases, rigid legal jargon has become easier to understand and closer to people's lives, Chen noted. 

As the first book of long-form journalism focusing on copyright protection of written works in China, the book has been quickly picked up in the country. It has been featured and recommended in newspapers and magazines. 

The release of the book marks a significant contribution to the discourse on copyright protection and literary creation in China, reflecting the country's ongoing efforts to strengthen its legal framework and cultural development.

Ding Xiaoyuan, a critic and vice president of the Chinese Reportage Association, said that the book is not only a specific narrative of the occurrence and "evolution" of China's copyright law, but also reflects the historical process of the rule of law and the improvement of social civilization in contemporary China.