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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/technology/internet/31google.html?_r=1&hpw

Chinese authors are demanding that the Chinese government do something about Google Books violating their copyright by copying their works.

“It is as if you have something nice in your living room and Google takes it and puts it in its living room,” said Zhang Hongbo, deputy director general of the Chinese copyright society. “We are definitely opposed to using our works without our permission.”

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My day has just been fucking made.

The only way that it could get funnier is if Google replaced their logo with an image that said, "Payback's a bitch, ain't it?"

I somehow knew a post in this vein would be created. It shouldn't be surprising that China's lack of copyright protection actually hurts legit Chinese authors/artists/etc. There has been progress made with a few notable examples in the past few years such as seemingly remarkable cooperation between foreign and Chinese police in breaking up Pirated DVD rings and court cases--such as the Starbucks vs Starbuck case where the Chinese courts ruled in favor of the Coffee giant.

It would also be equally be odd for google to cry foul in the future if they are indeed doing this--at least it might lose whatever moral high ground it had, which is, lets be honest, shakey at best, considering Google's history in China.

Hey, if their own citizens getting ripped off is what prompts the Chinese government to actually begin cracking down for real on piracy, for one, and protecting the intellectual property rights in general, this could actually turn out well in the end.

Any of the folks in the piracy thread want to weigh in on international copyright?