Asian Linkage

A few bits from Asia:

-Vietnam: Disagreement over the scope of copyright: the Berne convention asks for 50 years, while a US-Vietnam bilateral trade agreement asks for 75 years. (That's + the author's life, as the short article misses.)

Also, the perils of copyright & communism: musicians working for propaganda projects receive limited compensation in royalties.

-China: Crack down on fake books. That not pirated books, but books that borrow the title of a foreign bestseller, are published under a made up author name, have reviews of well-known newspapers on the cover (e.g. The New York Times), while their content is fabricated from thin air. (Opinionated article.)

-China: The Highest People's Court of Beijing has released the "Views for guidance on determining copyright violation damage and liability of compensation". Included is the compensation for "spiritual damages". The poorly translated article does not explain what this exactly entails.

-Singapore: Online magazine business model overcomes production and distribution costs. Is it a Chinese business in disguise: "People are concerned about copyright when it comes to China, so we put the Singapore stamp on the company".