I am currently teaching at a school that has made photocopies of a very well respected ESL publication and is selling them to students as the textbook. This is being done on a massive scale in a very big public school . How do I report it?
This is standard procedure in very many schools…
Shit I just heard something about copyright on ICRT this morning. Some or other campaign.
Can’t quite remember.
Public schools as well?
Best thing to do is to contact the pubisher. Quite a while ago, publishers were doing nothing but fighting the “copy” shops which were next door to TaiDa… for a while, things got better…but not so much anymore.
AND taiwan wonders “Why are we on the US special 301 list for IP Infringements???” DUH 
I too have seen this kind of thing on a smaller basis. One class perhaps, it is usually done quietly and under the table. The situation I am in concerns well over a thousand copies and possibly more, sanctioned by the school.
I have just published my first book myself and feel very strongly about this. The problem is I will most definitely lose my job and not be paid for the hours I have taught. Another concern is that they may try to put the blame on me. I can
A few weeks ago, some guy took out ads on the front pages of The China Post (Taipei Times, too, I think) apologizing to the company whose books he illegally copied and used in his language school. I guess such copyright infringement is being taken more seriously.
If this really does mean that much to you, the risks to your job should be incidental. Isn’t doing the right thing always correct?
report it. if you are afraid of your life or job, report it anonymously. as wolf says: do the right thing.
“isnt doing the right thing always correct?” yesh well thats not as simple as it sounds…what if you have three kids to feed and need the salary to do so…there are many cases where people can’t afford to make a stand for moral or social justice if it means jeopardising their own livelihood…then again the great thing about teaching in taiwan i guess is that there’s plenty more jobs out there…
i don’t know… the heads of public schools in taiwan are seldom the kind of men who have no connections… i doubt you’d get anyone who’d be prepared to take it to them… especially since it would almost definitely be resolved with Principal: “really?.. it’s illegal?.. well thanks for letting us know my good buddy Inspector Chen, you must come over for mahjiang and a hong bao this weekend…” it’d all be swept under the carpet, then they’d find out where the call came from and stomp you… so if you do it… do it very anonymously…
Basically it is impossible for me to report it anonymously as the local authorities don’t accept anonymous reports.
How do the government or the publishers hope to do anything about it if they don
Boomer: I’m sure the publisher would be happy to receive even an anonymous tip about large-scale infringement. Many IP owners hire investigators to scout out infringement of their rights so that they can send cease and desist letters and/or file civil or criminal complaints.
And, in response to other comments, I believe that rewards for tips of IP infringement do exist in Taiwan. In April of this year the Premier announced a bounty of US $30,000 for informants who tip off the authorities about manufacturers of counterfeit CDs, DVDs and VCDs. I think that is offered through the MOEA. And the MPA (movies) and IFPI (music) supposedly both offer rewards to infringement informants in Taiwan. I don’t know how, or if, those bounties are actually paid but I believe one only qualifies if the tip leads to a successful conviction. Regardless of whether there is a bounty or not, though, most IP owners would be very happy to receive tips about infringement.
Of course, Taiwan’s reputation for IP infringement is highly deserved. Not only the fake goods sold on the sidewalks and in night markets, or the university copyshops, but Taiwan is second only to China for manufacturing of counterfeit optical disks and video games, millions of which are exported out under the sleepy eyes of Customs. The problem is that it’s so deeply engrained in the culture that the cops, lawyers, judges and politicians don’t really believe it’s a “real” crime and refuse to take it seriously. How many offices (even government offices) in Taiwan use counterfeit software? I recently had a publicly listed Taiwan company for a client and one of their employees sent fake Rolexes in the mail which were seized by US customs. When I told the client that person should be fired they informed me that buying fake watches is one of the benefits they offer their customers. So, don’t expect the local authorities to do anything about it, because they don’t understand that infringement is wrong. But the IP owner certainly should care.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]That’s not true Boomer. I’m sure the publisher would be happy to receive even an anonymous tip about large-scale infringement. Many IP owners hire investigators to scout out infringement of their rights so that they can send cease and desist letters and/or file civil or criminal complaints.
And, in response to other comments, I believe that rewards for tips of IP infringement do exist in Taiwan. In April of this year the Premier announced a bounty of US $30,000 for informants who tip off the authorities about manufacturers of counterfeit CDs, DVDs and VCDs. I think that is offered through the MOEA. And the MPA (movies) and IFPI (music) supposedly both offer tips to infringement informants in Taiwan. I don’t know how, or if, those bounties are actually paid but I believe one only qualifies if the tip leads to a successful conviction.
Regardless of whether there is a bounty or not, though, most IP owners would be very happy to receive tips about infringement.[/quote]
You could also contact the Taiwan Book Publishers Association (2370-9050). They were involved in the crackdowns on photocopy shops last year and could probably help you out.
Now you know why more and more of the new language schools are suspending a large table over the photocopying machine.
Of course, this is to facilitate the copying of copyrighted materials “under the table.”
But on a serious note, you could call some government offices and ask them how to report such a matter in an anonymous manner.
If you don’t get any satisfaction there, it is probably better to work on your “Overseas Americans in Taiwan” strategy for the ultimate solution.
I also agree with what Maoman will write in the following post.
If they’re a big chain, rat them out. If it’s a little guy, it’s no less wrong, but I’d say that the bigger schools have more resources and should be able to come up with legal alternatives very easily.
It’s a public school more than 5000 students.
The only IP that comes out of Taiwan doesn’t work - take the design for my toilet (different from normal toilets in that it flushes up the pan instead of down), or the envelopes that won’t accomodate A4 paper as examples.
In a culture where creativity isn’t valued how do you expect the value of someone else’s creativity to be worth anything when it can be replicated for free? That’s what the whole economy is based on.
I had to put my foot down at a public high school last year that was payng me for one lesson, then videotaping it to show in all their other classes. Now I guess they own the copyright on that performance and can do what they want with it.
It all comes down to respect for the individual.
You forgot about those glowing fish that are be banned through out the planet.
Hey go easy on the glowing fish, they are actually very much original to Taiwan and certainly are not to be banned throughout the planet. Plus plenty of glowing fish have been used in research before. The technology and system to produce those fish had to overcome a lot of hurdles. It’s being banned because of mistakes they made in their strategy in many countries but that’s Taiwanese for ya! They are going to learn the hard way to be more open and eventually they will be successful, believe me.
They could do things more environmentally friendly I suppose…
If they are lacking in creativity well everything takes time. It’s hard to have the luxury of creativity when you might lose your job and have no social welfare backup and pick up cardboard for a living. I would like to go give up my job around and try my pet projects too. Why don’t I, cos there’s good possibility I’d end up starving on the street with no visa and nowhere to go. Now imagine you did that but your parents depend on you to look after them when they are old, maybe you are married and have kids too???
You might say lamentable if commenting about Taiwan respect for IP but how about if you are earning Taiwanese or much worse Chinese wages. Can you pay Microsoft six months salary for Windows XP???
Can you buy a CD for 10 or 20 USD. As my mother told me she used to buy music really cheap when they sold singles and records? Is there a reason music shoud be more expensive when distribution and technology and market size should make it much cheaper to manufacture and sell?
In addition patent rights often favour strong large economies over weaker smaller ones. If a country wants to leapfrog ahead a strategy such as the Taiwanese have adopted is very sensible to a point. Plenty of people owe their living in Taiwan and our jobs in Taiwan to this strategy, either directly or indirectly.