Visitors stand next to a signage of Weibo.com, the Twitter-like Chinese microblog platform, at the Shanghai Book Fair 2014 on Aug 18, 2014. [Photo/IC]

ON SATURDAY, Sina Weibo, China's equivalent to Twitter, sent all its users a notice that prohibits them from authorizing any third party to quote what they publish on a micro blog without written approval from Sina. The notice sparked fierce debate, which later prompted Sina to announce that users still held the copyright to the content of their micro blogs. Beijing News comments:

It is the person who produces the content, not the company that produces the tools for recording that content or the platform used to make it public that holds the copyright to the content, unless the copyright is purchased from the creator. As the generators of the content, micro blog users hold the copyright to the original content they create for their micro blogs and the platforms may not limit or challenge that right.

That's why Sina's claim to copyright should be considered invalid. It sent that notice, because it hoped to gain an advantage over other enterprises competing with it for user-generated content. Users produce text, photos or videos and share them with others via various platforms; the platform that gets the largest quantity of popular user-generated content will win.

That's why Sina and other companies are competing so fiercely for user-generated content. Just a few weeks ago, Sina closed a link to a self-publishing platform that encouraged its users to copy their micro blogs and publish them on the new platform.

But that does not mean companies can violate users' copyrights for their own interests. The Copyright Law makes clear that copyright belongs to the writer, not the publishing platform. Sina cannot break this law. Different platforms can compete, but without violating the copyrights of their users.