The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 450 Copyright and Censorship
After Zhu Jianxuan had an idea, he picked up his pen and wrote some simple outlines, and then called the secretary of the cabinet who was responsible for handling documents.

You dictate according to the outline and have the secretary type on the keyboard to put your requirements into words.

After more than four years of preparation, Daming's computer performance has reached a new stage, and it is now possible to type directly via telex-controlled typewriters.

Text can also be displayed through the TV, which enables intuitive display of input and output and enters the visual operation stage.

There are two most critical technologies in this system. The first is the encoding rules, which is the logic of the input method.

Zhu Jianxuan introduced two directions at the same time: Wubi and Pinyin. One has a high learning cost but is more efficient, while the other has a low learning cost but is less efficient.

In an era of low computer performance, auxiliary screening cannot be achieved through complex programs, and the efficiency of the Pinyin input method is far behind that of Wubi.

Therefore, most professional word processors who use computers now directly choose to use the Wubi input method to operate their computers.

Another key technology is the standard dot matrix display method of text.

The scheme of using dot matrix to transmit and represent images and text was proposed by Zhu Jianxuan long ago and applied to telegraph systems.

Now we can directly introduce computer systems, which naturally does not pose any difficulty.

In this way, under the suggestion and guidance of Zhu Jianxuan, the construction of the basic computer office infrastructure was quickly completed.

Now we can directly process the 8,000 characters on the commonly used character list originally drawn up by Zhu Jianxuan.

Naturally, computer office work can also be realized.

However, in the current market environment, the cost of computer office work is ridiculously high.

The equipment mainly used to realize this kind of electronic office is the most advanced computer of this era and is simply not affordable for ordinary users.

Using this kind of thing for work is like deploying a set of machines similar to bank servers, which are used solely for recording text and printing.

For most ordinary users, they would rather use the money to hire someone to type or even write the text by hand.

Even for most imperial agencies and local government offices, it was cheaper to directly hire people to write by hand or type on a typewriter.

Therefore, at present, apart from the institutions and departments that have an inherent need for computers, only a few places such as Zhu Jianxuan's office, the cabinet and the Secretariat have specially set up computer teletypewriting systems.

However, this situation should change soon, because the lithography system developed by Zhu Jianxuan at the Academy of Engineering is basically completed.

The lithography machine production line has been built and the chip production plant is also under construction.

With the advent of early photolithography machines and mass-production chip factories, chip production was pushed from the handicraft era to the industrial production era.

At the same time, it can quickly produce large-scale integrated circuits and can produce intensive microchips and memory chips.

By then, computers that can directly process text will be reduced in size to the size of typical desktop computers in later generations, and computer computing and the Internet will be popularized in official institutions of the court.

As an emperor, Zhu Jianxuan used traditional methods in advance regardless of cost.

Zhu Jianxuan dictated the next arrangements according to his own outline. First, he ordered the Institute of Education to organize the establishment of the Department of Literature and Art and the various registered literature and art schools.

The Department of Literature and Art under the Institute of Education is responsible for researching and summarizing the creative knowledge, skills, and theories of popular literary works such as novels, dramas, lyrics, and movies, while the School of Literature and Art is responsible for imparting this knowledge and theories.

Those who do well in these things can also be awarded the title of student and enjoy the same social benefits as ordinary students, commonly known as scholars.

Explain the next key research direction of the Department of Literature and Art, and explain your ideas for the School of Literature and Art.

The focus is on creating literary and artistic works that are popular among ordinary people.

As for elegant works, they will be created by true enthusiasts without the need for special guidance and assistance.

Then he ordered the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Rites to organize personnel to revise the Copyright Law, and explained the direction and principles of the revision, mainly to protect the rights of creators.

At the same time, the Ministry of Commerce was ordered to draft a standard contract for copyright transactions, adopting the same principles as the Copyright Law.

On this basis, the principles of the review and registration system for literary and artistic works should be standardized.

The Ming Dynasty in this world has an early copyright protection law left by Emperor Chongzhen. The content of this law is generally complete and mature, and it should have been drafted with reference to modern copyright law.

Over the past 100 years, it has gradually played its due role.

However, Zhu Jianxuan believes that this copyright protection law has problems and needs to be revised in a targeted manner based on its own needs.

The main problem is that the descriptor "copyright" is not very reasonable. It is a typical descriptor that is as broad as possible and is the result of legislators' pursuit of making the law as universal as possible.

Another term derived from this is "copyright owner", which is also an overly broad and universal term with similar logic.

When ordinary people see such words, they may subconsciously think that this is protecting the rights of creators, that is, protecting the rights of writers, screenwriters, painters, composers, lyricists, singers, actors and other people who directly produce works.

In fact, it is not the case at all. This law protects the interests of "copyright owners".

The person who owns the copyright is not necessarily the creator. It can be someone who obtains the copyright through other means, or it can be another individual or a corporate organization.

Including heirs, hired creators, custom builders, publishers, performing arts companies, agencies, record companies, etc.

Many singers can no longer sing their old songs after changing jobs because the copyright of the songs belongs to the record company, not the singer.

As legislators, it seems that we should maintain an absolutely neutral stance and take into account the common rights of creators and other copyright holders, including the rights of these corporate organizations.

Regardless of whether the parties created the work themselves and obtained copyright as a matter of course, or obtained copyright through contractual authorization, all rights must be protected equally.

However, in most cases, ordinary creators are in a clearly weaker negotiating position compared to these operating companies and organizations.

It is actually unfair for managers to be absolutely neutral and fair when dealing with two parties with unequal negotiating positions.

It's like a referee saying to a strong man and a child, you two can fight fairly in the ring without interference from others, I will be absolutely fair in making the judgment.

That is to allow strong men to bully children at will, which is just one-sided verbal fairness.

Legal provisions that seem to fairly protect the rights of all "copyright owners" are mostly protecting the rights of copyright operating companies.

The connotation of "rights" is not just monetary interests, but also includes the right to control the content of the work, including the right not to have the content and ideas of the work arbitrarily tampered with.

The equal protection for copyright owners also results in creators losing their voice in the adaptation of derivative works, and they can no longer have a direct influence once the adaptation license is released.

After being screened twice by science and liberal arts, the remaining art students usually have "their own ideas" and "their own understanding" of art.

I like to express my own unique and "profound" thoughts by slightly changing other people's works.

Even authors like Jin Yong would see an "adaptation" that they could not accept, and the only thing they could do was "no more cooperation in the future." Even authors like Liu Cixin could only watch Yihua Kaitian messing around.

"The Legend of Zhen Huan" was originally a novel set in a fictional dynasty, but they insisted on setting the timeline to the Qing Dynasty and putting the character on the life of Emperor Yongzheng.

Therefore, Zhu Jianxuan wanted to add special clauses to protect creators' rights based on the original copyright law.

But even if there are legal protection clauses, private companies will use professional legal services to draft standard contracts, filling them with unfair clauses that are most beneficial to the company.

Therefore, in addition to having a legal basis, there must also be an official standard contract to make more detailed restrictions and make it easier for officials to resolve disputes.

On this basis, we must also improve the content review and registration system for literary and artistic works.

Before the Chongzhen period, the Ming Dynasty did not have a unified censorship system for literary and artistic works. Only when encountering a work with a particularly bad influence would the specific work be banned.

As long as ordinary people have the ability, they can write and print books and periodicals by themselves, and there is no one specifically responsible for managing such matters.

During the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, he attempted to establish review standards and prepare for a system of review before release, but it was ultimately not implemented.

The reason is very simple. Any administrative affairs have a price. The establishment and maintenance of relevant personnel and institutions are unavoidable expenses.

Whether a new administrative matter can be implemented and maintained depends on whether the costs and benefits are worthwhile.

During the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, even the idea of ​​judicial independence was not implemented, let alone something as irrelevant as the censorship of literary and artistic works.

All publishers in the Ming Dynasty were asked to print a copy of the materials they were going to print and send it to the yamen, and a large number of scholars were hired in the yamen to review these materials.

For the Ming Dynasty, which was in the agricultural era, there was no practical benefit, but it would cost an extremely huge amount of money.

Therefore, this matter naturally could not be implemented. Even if Emperor Chongzhen forced it to go forward, it would not be able to be maintained due to funding and personnel issues.

But the situation is different now. The industrialization of the Ming Dynasty has been completed, and the key is that it has electronic typesetting and printing technology.

The conditions are ripe, and Zhu Jianxuan now needs to bring out the censorship system, improve it and then implement it.

All modern countries have a system for censoring literary and artistic works. The only difference is the method and standards of censorship and the institutions responsible for censorship.

The main review bodies in Europe and the United States are private, and are industry-governing associations that have been popular in Europe and the United States since the Middle Ages.

A committee composed of major publishers and distributors is responsible for formulating standards and methods for reviewing works and for reviewing all works to be published.

The most important thing they do is to classify and give all works an age-appropriate indicator.

However, the existence of a work rating system does not mean that all works can be published. Both the European and American rating systems have a "reject rating" level.

Since it cannot get a rating, no regular publisher in the industry will publish it, and it cannot be sold publicly.

However, unless the content itself is illegal, no one will specifically ban it, and the parties involved can find ways to spread it on their own.

This is actually the same as in the East. If the work does not pass the review, it cannot be publicly released and sold, but the parties involved can find ways to spread it themselves.

However, if the content of the work itself is illegal, it will also be banned by official management agencies.

It is easy to imagine how weird the content of a work that cannot pass review and classification is. It is really not easy to be completely legal.

However, since the review is carried out by private organizations, it is easy for bias to occur.

Publications issued by member companies of the Committee may not be reviewed to exactly the same standards as publications issued by other ordinary publishers.

At the same time, classification can serve as a "disclaimer" for shifting the blame.

They stated that they had clearly indicated in the most obvious place what age range the work was suitable for, and that problems caused by parents failing to supervise their children had nothing to do with them.

The censorship methods and operations of various countries in the world in the past can be used as reference.

For example, the grading system can be used as a reference, but it certainly cannot be copied directly.

In the Ming Dynasty's administrative system, the power of review and management could not be delegated to private organizations, but could only be undertaken by institutions established by the court departments.

Due to the differences in powers and responsibilities, the corresponding agencies of the Ming Dynasty court should not regard classification as an exemption clause.

It is not enough to simply fulfill the obligation to inform, but different dissemination and use restrictions should be imposed on works of different levels.

Works that are not suitable for children may not be publicly advertised where children may be present.

Works with higher ratings cannot be promoted or broadcast during prime time.

The copyright system can also be used, but the control standards do not have to be as strict as in previous countries. Power can be delegated to provinces or even prefectures, rather than being concentrated in the central court.

We need to create a relatively relaxed and free creative environment, but it cannot be as relaxed as in Japan, Europe and the United States, and we cannot just give warnings and reminders that are like covering one's ears and stealing the bell.

Formulate a general process for reviewing and grading applications, and formulate an official review application registration form.

If it is a film or television work, its original creator, adapter and main performers must sign and confirm the application registration form on site with the producer and director.

This process requires them to be responsible for their own works, while also protecting the status of the original creators and adapted screenwriters.

Let them gain the same status and even the right to speak as directors and leading actors on the official platform.

At the same time, it is also the last chance for them to protect their own interests.

If the original creator does not sign, the work cannot enter the review process and naturally cannot be publicly released.

For the original creators, after signing the authorization agreement, they can regain the basic right to speak, so that adaptations that do not conform to their original intentions cannot be publicly disseminated.

This in turn requires adapters to respect the opinions of the original creators and not to ignore them outright.

Otherwise, even if the adaptation is completed, it will not pass the review, and the director and producer’s initial investment will be wasted.

The typical problem in the past, that the original author completely lost the right to speak after the authorization contract was signed, should be reduced.

Screenwriters and other adapters can also show their presence in this link without being completely ignored by the director and leading actors.

Make the screenwriter a very important member of the crew, rather than simply being responsible for expressing the director's will.

Such a multi-signature system is likely to limit the size of participants.

The best result is that the director and screenwriter are the same person, or the screenwriter and the original author are the same person, so that there is one less person to sign.

(End of this chapter)