Towards creative da-tong

Abstract

This article offers an alternative notion of creative industries. It refocuses the idea of intellectual property as ‘property’ to processes associated with the generation and exploitation of creativity. The article introduces the notion of ‘creative da-tong’, which brings intellectual property reforms now taking place in the West closer to the traditional Chinese idea of ‘Confucian utopia’ (da-tong). The article also posits a link with xiaokang (‘a well-off or lesser utopia’], which defines official social and economic reform policies in China. In taking into account reformers’ insight into intellectual rights and collaborative production, creative da-tong can assist China in rethinking its conglomeration and privatization agenda, now evident in media and cultural industries. For various strategic reasons, the article further suggests that creative industries, as a policy term, should be differentiated from the established ‘cultural industries’ conglomerates to refer specifically to small and medium enterprises.