No more delays on IPR law

The Legislative Council on Thursday finished the second reading of the draft Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 tabled by the SAR government. Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor told the press the government is "very determined" to get the copyright bill passed as soon as possible. There is no doubt the government is fighting an uphill battle against opposition lawmakers who have been going out of their way to block the passage of the bill with filibustering tactics. Some extra efforts from pro-establishment lawmakers will no doubt help. 

It seems those opposition politicians are determined to stop Hong Kong from updating its intellectual property rights protection law in the Internet era even if their actions make them enemies of copyright owners around the world. 

Many free market economies have enacted similar laws in recent years and Hong Kong, given its reputation as a society under the effective rule of law, has no reason to be an exception in better legal protection for intellectual properties. There is no denying such laws have run into remarkable resistance from some Internet users around the world and their arguments have tended to focus on freedom of expression or speech. Not surprisingly, some local bloggers and meme fans have been clamoring against the copyright bill since day one, practically reciting the free speech arguments they saw on the Web or read in the press. Sadly, their accusation that the bill will kill online free speech is moot - because they would have learned the content of the bill contains nothing like that had they read it through. 

The dispute, so to speak, boils down to use of images, such as photos and videos and often modified for unusual effects, without permission of the copyright owners of these images. They believe such use is not illegal as long as they do not charge viewers for seeing them. Some of them have gone so far as to claim defacing images they do not own, presumably for satirical effects, is a creative process and restricting it with the amended Copyright Ordinance will stifle creativity. That is the worst definition of creativity anyone can come up with and should be banished at all costs. 

Hong Kong is working toward becoming a center of innovation in the coming years, as emphasized by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in his latest Policy Address. A porous copyright law will prevent the city from achieving this goal. The opposition lawmakers who are filibustering against the copyright bill at this moment are soiling Hong Kong's reputation for their own political benefit and therefore deserve public condemnation.