Hong Kong DAB leader pushes pan-democrat copyright amendment
Just two days before lawmakers are due to debate a controversial copyright bill already deferred from last week, a leader of the biggest pro-government party said yesterday he would ask his colleagues to support an amendment proposed by the pan-democrats.
Holden Chow Ho-ding, vice-chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, wants to persuade his party to back the pan-democrats in seeking to add a "fair use" exemption to the legislation as a better way to protect internet users.
"Fair use" - adopted in many countries - allows for more leeway for users when they imitate or parody copyrighted work, compared to the current "fair dealing" rule, which is specific and exclusive.
Chow's decision came hours after a press conference by the bill's advocates had to be abandoned following a scuffle and while Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying waded into the furore not with words - but pictures of Hello Kitty-stamped dim sum he posted online, prompting questions about whether he could be in breach of the very law his government is pushing.
The Hong Kong Copyright Alliance was due to meet the media yesterday at Euro Trade Centre in Central to express support for the bill that has been attacked as clamping down on freedom of expression.
But 10 members of Civic Passion, a radical activist group, turned up, causing a scuffle. Participants then walked out.
"We cancelled our press conference. We felt our freedom of speech was under threat, which prevented our guests from joining our event," said alliance spokesman Peter Lam Yuk-wah.
Among those caught in the melee was Tony Wong Yuk-long, chairman of the Hong Kong Comics and Animation Federation, who showed up to support the bill but was attacked for allegedly using derivative works without authorisation.
Denying he had lifted ideas from others, he said: "Internet piracy has been killing the comics industry."
Civic Passion founder Wong Yeung-tat confirmed its members were present to express their views on copyright and that three of its internet workers were barred, leading to the melee.
Meanwhile, internet users queried Leung's posting of two photos of the dim sum - six buns and two steamed cakes - made in the image of famed Japanese cartoon cat Helly Kitty on his Facebook page yesterday afternoon. He wrote that he bought the food at an expo and gave it to children who visited Government House.
"Although the buns were made with the permission of the copyright owner, if [the bill] is passed, Leung Chun-ying may have committed a crime by taking photos of the products and uploading the photos on Facebook without attributing the source of the products," said student activist Agnes Chow Ting on her Facebook page.
Under the bill, derivative material based on copyrighted works would be exempted from criminal and civil liability if it was for the purposes of parody, satire, caricature, pastiche or commentary on current events. But creators need to provide "sufficient acknowledgement".
