Copyright and Moral Rights Infringement 

I'm a Chinese Canadian writer, poet, and literary translator. Recently, I discovered that the British Museum's "China's Hidden Century" exhibit used my published translations of Chinese feminist poet Qiu Jin's poetry without contacting me, and thus without any permission, credit, or payment. 

The exhibition featured a full copy of my 23-line translation of Qiu Jin’s poem “A River of Crimson: A Brief Stay in the Glorious Capital” prominently as a key part of the section on Qiu Jin.

They used my translations of Qiu Jin's poetry in multiple formats (in a giant projection, on a sign, in digital and print audio guides, in an audio form and its transcript, and in an audio guide in their app store) in connection with the physical exhibition. My translations are also quoted in the exhibition book, and one translation of mine in the book has no citation or credit attached. 

How the British Museum Has Handled the Situation

The British Museum’s correspondence with me since has added insult to injury.

They initially claimed they had just forgotten to credit me in the exhibit and offered to acknowledge me, and to send me a permission form, whilst emphasizing how other contributors let them use their work for free or at a low cost. Before I even had a chance to respond, especially given the 8-hr time difference, they contacted me 24 hours later to tell me that they had removed all my translations from the exhibit. 

I have since then been able to confirm that they have not just removed my English translations but also the Chinese original. 

They continue to say that the lack of acknowledgement was down to “human error” and are refusing to provide any further details as to what deficiencies in their processes made this human oversight possible, in circumstances in which two white scholars were granted funding of £719,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to research and put the exhibition together.

The British Museum has deliberately misrepresented what has happened by telling journalists that I demanded that my work be removed from the exhibit, when it is clear that my request was for them to be removed unless I was promptly remunerated and credited for their use - it is clear to any reasonable person what I was asking for. 

They say that for unspecified practical reasons they are not able to make any further changes to a live exhibition, despite the fact that they were able to make extensive changes overnight to remove Qiu Jin's poetry, and my translations, from the exhibit and all the different kinds of supporting material. I do not accept, especially in the absence of any further explanation, that reinstating this material with proper credit is any more onerous than removing it was. 

The current position is the worst possible outcome - the public are now not only being denied the chance to see my translations, and to know who wrote them, but also the chance to read Qiu Jin's words too. The result is that two female writers of color have both had their work erased. We are not disposable.

Call to Action & Next Steps

Having failed to reach an acceptable settlement with the British Museum, which would be a reinstatement of my work for the rest of the exhibition’s run, along with an appropriate credit and a modest payment for that, they have forced me to escalate this by way of a legal claim in the UK’s courts.

I need to raise at least £15,000 by July 10th to enable me to instruct expert lawyers in London to initiate a claim of infringement of my copyright and moral rights.

I will be working with lawyers in the UK to bring a claim against the British Museum for its infringement of my copyright and moral rights in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC), which is a specialist court and part of the Business and Property Courts of the High Court of Justice in London.

Please contribute and share if you can - each and every small contribution is very much appreciated! Let’s hold the British Museum accountable together! 

I realise that this is a lot of money at any time, and especially in the current economic circumstances, but the cost and difficulty of taking legal action is a huge barrier when it comes to access to justice. My hope is that if I am able to generate enough support to take this point of principle forward, it will give the British Museum and all similar institutions the maximum possible incentive to avoid similar conduct in the future, because they will see that there is collective power in communities who feel disrespected and insulted.

If I reach my First Target that will enable me to bring the claim, and the further I get towards the Stretch Target, the stronger my position is in terms of being able to see this through to a conclusion.

If it is the case that any funds raised do not end up being required to put towards my legal costs, they will be handled by Crowd Justice in accordance with their usual terms and conditions.

Why This Case Matters

This case matters to me not only because I believe both my work and Qiu Jin's work should receive the credit and respect they deserve, but because it affects the copyright and moral rights of all translators, writers, and creatives. 

The British Museum has not issued an appropriate apology or taken proper responsibility for its actions, so if it is not held accountable, then this is a cycle that stands to be repeated.

If I am successful, I will use a small portion of any sums I recover to pay myself a modest amount for the use of my translations and the time it has taken to fight my case, and will donate all the rest (at least 50%) to a literary magazine or organization to fund a mentorship program or contest to support translators of color translating Chinese poetry. 

I see fighting this case as a part of my long-term and ongoing advocacy and activism work in support of writers and translators of color. 

Thank you so much for your help and for spreading the word. It is so appreciated. 

Yilin Wang

Selected press coverage so far:

CNN

CBC

The Art Newspaper

Hyperallergic

The Guardian

Credit: Thank you to my friend Haricha (Twitter/Instagram: @harichaart) for helping me make the banner art. The photo of Qiu Jin is in the public domain.