On March 15, 2011, the China Recording Industry Committee of the China Audio-Video Association and a group of prominent artists independently issued two letters lodging protests against China’s Baidu search engine for alleged violation of copyright. The letters were, respectively: “Open Letter of Opposition to Baidu” (抗议百度公开信) and “March 15 Letter by Chinese Writers Opposing Baidu” (三一五中国作家讨百度书). The documents accused Baidu Books, the search engine’s library service, of violating the rights of writers and musicians. The “March 15 Letter by Chinese Writers,” said: “They [Baidu] have stolen our works away. They have stolen our rights away. They have stolen our property. Baidu Books has become a market for stolen goods.”
In this cartoon, posted by artist Shang Haichun (商海春) to his QQ blog, a writer’s pen labelled “copyright” is snatched in the teeth of a computer terminal, which winks sarcastically as it holds up a big, red sign that reads: “Sorry!”