Novel pirated in China

Novel pirated in China

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: A local novelist plans to sue a
Jakarta-based publisher for illegally translating his book into
Chinese and selling copies in China.

The writer, Ahmad Tohari, said he learned that his work had
been pirated from a businessman who recently visited China and
found the Chinese version of best selling Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk
(Dancer from Paruk) being sold in the streets.

Tohari, who will receive a literary award from the Thai
government next month, said he realized that it would be
fruitless to take legal action against the distributors in China.

No writer has won a piracy case in a Chinese court, Antara
quoted him as saying yesterday.

The novel, which has been translated into English, German,
Dutch, Spanish and Arabic, will be made into a TV film. (imn)