William P. Alford
You should buy—not steal or copy—The Politics of Piracy. It is an impressive and timely book that will help anyone trying to understand today's (or tomorrow's) battles between the United States and China regarding intellectual property. In it, Andrew C. Mertha draws on years of experience in China and a rich academic background to produce a study that I know scholars, businesspeople, and policymakers will find valuable with regard to both intellectual property and China's engagement of global norms in general.
Michael P. Ryan
The Politics of Piracy is a great read and should prove to be the definitive, durable account of the politics of intellectual property in China. Andrew C. Mertha's research regarding patent, copyright, and trademark policymaking, implementation, and enforcement is the work of a highly skilled and motivated specialist in the structure and process of Chinese politics. We learn that Deng's science and technology policymakers debated patent policy from the earliest days of the reform movement, that cultural and propaganda issues trump copyright policy, and that U.S. trademark owners have figured out how to get the locals to take action against counterfeiters. Mertha's anecdotes illuminate even as they entertain.
Joseph Fewsmith III
This very well-written book sets out a clear argument and follows it through the maze of China's bureaucracy, arriving finally at persuasive conclusions. I have never read such a vivid description of how Chinese bureaucracies connect to each other, from the center to the local level. Andrew C. Mertha provides an extremely lucid explanation of why some types of intellectual property rights are relatively well enforced and others are not.
