Cartoonists, others oppose sanctions on parody

Cartoonists and internet users have taken a stand against a proposal that could criminalise those who parody graphical, audio or any other representations of copyrighted material.

However, government officials say mainly parodies made for commercial purposes would be subject to legal sanction.

Dozens of people joined a public forum on how to deal with parody under Hong Kong's copyright regime at the Central Library in Causeway Bay yesterday.

"The law should exempt everyone from civil and criminal liabilities, otherwise creators will self-censor," one cartoonist said, adding that the general public could not afford time-consuming legal battles.

But Ada Leung Ka-lai, deputy director of the Intellectual Property Department, said that only parodies that bring considerable economic loss to the copyright owners would be subject to the copyright law.

The government has come up with three options in its consultation paper on the issue. One would exempt parodies from existing criminal liability.