China Writers' Association Urges Google to Resume Talks
Chengdu Commercial, 3/23/10
The China Writers' Association published a statement on its website urging Google to keep its earlier promise to submit, by the end of March, a plan for licensing works by Chinese authors that Google has scanned.
Zhang Hongbo, deputy secretary general of the China Written Works Copyright Society (CWWCS), said Google representative and Asia-Pacific head of Google Books Erik Hartmann had said on January 12 that "conditions at Google headquarters had changed," and stopped answering text messages, e-mails, or phone calls after January 15. Zhang said he had called Hartmann yesterday, but that his phone was turned off.
Zhang said the CWWCS was actively communicating with overseas rights organizations, and that a number of foreign law firms had approached the CWWCS with information. Asked whether the CWWCS would sue Google in China should it fail to live up to its promise by the end of March, Zhang said it was too early to tell. Zhang said he hoped the affair would not escalate to the level of litigation, adding that the CWWCS will issue a formal statement to Google calling for the resumption of talks.
Keywords: China Writers Association IPR infringement Internet law litigation Google CWWCS Zhang Hongbo Erik Hartmann online literature
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