Dafen, a village near Shenzhen is famous for its art industry and infamous for its copyright infringements.
Article 21 Copyright Law states that the term of copyright protection in respect of a work of a citizen shall be the lifetime of the author and fifty years after his death, and expires on 31 December of the fiftieth year after the death of the author.
Evan Osnos wrote together with Lu Jingxian for the Chicago Tribune: “Town leaders and local authorities say Chinese law allows reproductions of artists who have been dead for more than 50 years, though O’Keeffe died in 1986.”
However, recently the Dafen authorities investigate and punish copyright violations. Since January 2007 the Dafen Intellectual Property Working Station has been registering original works and taking photos, though the inspectors concede that piracy remains rampant.
Read Osnos and Lu’s article here.
