Writer in spat over pulped novel

Writer and lawyer Jia Fangyi filed suit against a local publishing house Monday at Xicheng district court, asking for compensation and a public apology over the destruction of 5,000 copies of his novel.

Jia has alleged that Beijing Yanshan Press, based in Xicheng, pulped the copies of his novel, A Dog's Lover and History, for which he had paid 14,000 yuan ($2,238) to Yanshan to publish.

However, Yanshan, which according to its website publishes historical and archaeological books, said Monday that permission to publish the novel was never granted, and it was Jia, not Yanshan, who organized for the book to be printed, and he also did not pay up front for the printing.

The novel, set in a village in Henan Province from 1860 to 1960, tracks the evolution of Chinese agriculture and Chinese society in general, Jia said Monday.

The book was initially cleared for publication, Jia alleged to the Global Times.

"But later Yanshan claimed there were some politically sensitive things in the book, and they didn't know if it was appropriate for publication," he said, adding that the novel did not contain political issues.

"I should have had the right to be informed before my books were destroyed," Jia said.

Chen Guo, deputy director of Yanshan, told the Global Times that Jia's book must be approved by the General Administration of Press and Publication before it can be published.

"This is why we didn't sign the publishing approval, but for some reason the book was still sent to a printing factory where 5,000 copies were later printed," said Chen.

Despite it not being Yanshan that ordered the book's print run, because it is inappropriate for a book to be printed without final approval, Yanshan contacted the factory and got the printed books back in January. Yanshan later paid a sum of money to the printers, and refunded all the money Jia had paid to them in advance, according to Chen.

"We reached an agreement with Jia in January concerning the book, and returned all the costs to him already," Chen said.

While Jia claims he should also be awarded the money he would have made from any book sales, lawyer Zhang Zhifeng, the director of the Beijing Intellectual Property Society, told the Global Times that a writer could only recoup the costs involved in printing a book from the publishers.

"If the publishers refunded all his costs then they have the right to do what they like with the books," Zhang said.

The contract, as seen by the Global Times, states that Yanshan has the right to keep all 5,000 copies of the book.

"The publishing house only needs to pay him back the costs instead of the actual price of the books since these books were never on the market," he noted.