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There have been three rounds of talks between Google and Chinese writers whose works were copied by the Internet giant without authorization. The fourth round of talks is expected to begin soon. Discussions are likely to touch upon more essential points of the issue.

The book list provided by Google is the latest achievement from the first three rounds of negotiations. The talks fell into stalemate earlier, as the company refused to admit having "infringed" upon copyright laws. But Chinese authors did not give up on efforts to protect their copyrights.

Zhang Hongbo, Director-General of China Written Work Copyright Society, said, "We invited patent experts and lawyers who are familiar with both Chinese and American law to analyze the issue. They say Google's stance is unstable."

Facing mounting pressure from multiple sides, including the media, Google changed its attitude, and played a more active role in pushing for a third set of negotiations with Chinese authors. The company also expressed wishes for reconciliation.

Chinese writers hope the fourth round of talks can achieve real progress.

Zhang said, "The fourth round of negotiations will begin in early January. A vice president from Google who has participated in the company's four-year talks with US Authors Guild, will attend our discussions. We will also mention the need to touch upon more essential issues during the talks."

But whatever the result is, patent experts say the negotiations will have a huge impact on the development of China's digital publication industry. Digital reading material providers have to take copyright issues more seriously, and Chinese authors may learn very important lessons on ways to protect their copyrights in the online era.