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| For some Daoist sex advice read China Expat’s article here. |
Some months ago an American porn company sought my advice on copyright law in China. “Is porn copyrighted in China and can you sell it there?” A movie, whether porn or not, is copyrighted, thus protectable and enforceable in principle (since the amendment of article 4 Copyright Law, after the WTO dispute resolution DS 362 panel’s decision, read more here). But that does not mean you can sell it legally in China. Pornography is prohibited since 1949. Exploiting a popular porn site can get you into jail… for life! You can read about the 2005 case here. That information was a cold shower for the U.S. porn company. Therefore I was extra surprised to read the rather positive and extensive article (4 pages) in the Global Times (China’s answer to CNN) on porn movie tourism from Shenzhen to Hong Kong movie theaters. Read here. Because it is a Hong Kong movie, if it was not porn, it would be well positioned to be shown in China, since Hong Kong movies are not considered foreign, see here. China Hearsay’s Stan Abrams has written so extensively about the restrictions on foreign movies in China that he, tongue-in-cheek, is considering to write a book about it, see here.
I am intrigued by everything with Zen in the title, see here. But I missed all the commotion around the movie ‘Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstacy’ in 3-D. It’s a costume drama released in Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand on April 14, 2011. Why is the Global Times so tolerant in their descriptions about this porn movie and the tourism it spawned to Hong Kong? Is it because the porn movie is, well, Chinese culture? “Based on the 1657 erotic novel The Carnal Prayer Mat written by Qing Dynasty author Li Yu that chronicles the sexual exploits and orgies of a young Ming Dynasty scholar named Wei Yangsheng who realizes that true love is hard to find.” Or is it just good for Hong Kong business, and China is considering it should be more lenient towards Hong Kong since it took away its monopoly to have a Disneyland on its Special Administrative Region by granting Shanghai permission to have a Disneyland too. Well if you have another speculation, let me know.
