Grassroots Voices on the U.s.-china Copyright Disputes

For three decades, the U. S.-China copyright disputes have been going on with very trivial commendable achievements in terms of the annual U. S. revenue loss of $3 billion due to the U. S.-declaimed 90% copyright piracy rate in all sectors in China. A systematic misunderstanding has been created between the two sides because the USTR has been culturally insensitive and habitually belligerent and the Chinese side has been strategically cooperative and tactically resistant. The research findings of this qualitative study based on the in-depth interviews of 45 copyright holders and ordinary consumers in China via the theoretical lenses of the theory of reasoned action, strategic and tactical resistance, theory of hegemony as well as Hofstede's cultural dimension of individualism and collectivism, on one hand, reveal the profound and complex Chinese reality for the rampant copyright piracy phenomenon and, on the other hand, provide constructive and valuable solutions to the recurring U. S.-China copyright disputes.