Piracy Jeopardises Tintin's Entry to China
By Irene Mar
The process of bringing Tintin into China has been plagued by legal problems, largely caused by China's inability to crack down on piracy.
Tintin books were once legally released in Chinese in the late 70s when the rights to the Chinese language Tintin were granted to Epoch, a publishing house in Taiwan. However, Epoch released the books sporadically, and the published books are rare.
Epoch's The Adventures Of 'Ding Ding' were never officially exported to mainland China, due to the political rivalry between Taiwan and China. Several editions of The Adventures Of Ding Ding have surfaced in China since the 1980s, among them the most famous are the Wen Lian and Qinghai editions. The Qinghai books were first published in mid-1998 and are still widely available in bookstores around the country.
Angered by the audacious disregard of copyrights by the Chinese, Casterman recently issued a protest through the Belgian representatives in China against Qinghai People's Publishing House and threatened legal action.
Qinghai People's Publishing House responded by claiming they were mislead by a Beijing based book dealer, who had told them that Hergé was dead for over fifty years, therefore his work was now in the public domain. To show their innocence and sincerity, Qinghai promised to recall and destroy all unsold copies.
In the meantime, at least three other Chinese publishers have expressed their interest in obtaining legal rights to publish Tintin in Chinese.
In May, the Executive Director of Casterman went to China to decide on the right candidate to be the new official Chinese Tintin publisher. Just as Tintin was to be given the passport to China, a new scandal arose: it had been discovered that in April unauthorised copies of The New Adventures Of Ding Ding published by Haitun began to appear on the bookstands. Now, along with the the new series, the supposedly recalled Qinghai edition of Tintin books could also be found in abundant supply. Outraged, Casterman immediately suspended discussions with the prospective licensee to pursue the matter with Dolphin and Qinghai.
Qinghai maintained the We-are-as-much-a-victim stance, and Haitun claimed that the new series they had brought out bore no relation with Tintin. Apparently, Haitun claims that The New Adventures of Ding Ding books are authorised Chinese language edition of Bob and Bobette1 by Belgian artist, the late Willy Vandersteen who was once a colleague of Hergé's. However, Casterman object to Haitun's use of the name, "Ding Ding", which has always been the Chinese name for Hergé's Tintin.
Haitun explained that by adopting the name "Ding Ding" for their series, they could help reducing the sales of pirated "Ding Ding"/Tintin books. Because with a well known name like, "Ding Ding", Haitun are hoping to attract real "Ding Ding"/Tintin fans to this new and legal series. Therefore, Haitun is really suggesting that they are doing Casterman a great service!
Unimpressed by Haitun's tongue-in-cheekness, Casterman will likely sue Haitun as well as Qinghai for damages. The case with Qinghai is a simple one of breach of copyright. However, the trouble with Haitun is much more complex, because Haitun have successfully registered the use of the name, "Ding Ding" with the Chinese copyright authorities. Therefore, this means even if Tintin gets his passport to China, he will probably need to adopt another name, "Ting Ting" perhaps, for "Ding Ding" is now the collective name, in Chinese, for Bob and Bobette.
Notes: Original Flemish title Suske en Wiske. Bob et Bobette in French and Willy and Wanda in English.
Sources: Zhao Chenyu: Trouble with the Chinese Passport, Zhonghua Dushu bao, 16 June 1999.