22 July 2026
In this episode, the Asian Law Centre’s Director, Sarah Biddulph, talks to Ben Hopper about fan fiction and legal issues in China. They discuss: what is fan fiction; why fan fiction poses challenges for China’s copyright laws and laws protecting personality rights; China’s first (and thus far only) fan fiction copyright lawsuit between renowned Chinese action fantasy (wuxia) author, Jin Yong, and fan fiction writer, Jiang Nan; the “227” incident that broke out on February, 27 2020 in which a fan fiction writer posted a serialised novel that contained a fictionalised romance between two actors in the TV show, The Untamed.
Ben would like to thank Jiacheng Gong, Tina Yao, and Alice Boer-Endacott for helpful discussions on fan fiction in the lead-up to the recording of this podcast.
This episode is hosted by Professor Sarah Biddulph, in conversation with Dr Ben Hopper.
Ben Hopper is the Director of Studies for the intellectual property specialisation at Melbourne Law School. His research uses empirical methods to illuminate the “living law”, drawing on legal theory and broader social theory to explain the results of his empirical research, and to suggest policy reforms. Much of his empirical research on IP laws has China has its locus. He is a fan fiction aficionado, but is yet to publish his own fan fiction.
Recommended further reading:
- Gladys Mac, Chinese Fanfiction is Entering Into (and Upsetting) the Mainstream (Online article, 10 December 2020) <https://radii.co/article/chinese-fanfiction>, archived at <https://perma.cc/JR5P-R78B>.
- Xu Xinming, Settlement Reached in Landmark “Jin Yong v. Jiang Nan Fanfiction Case” (Online article, 13 October 2025) <https://www.ciplawyer.com/articles/157722.html>, archived at <https://perma.cc/ZCS5-8M2D>. Note that this settlement took place, and this article was published, after this episode of Asian Law Voices was recorded.