As the Charity Times reports, a “Notice on Strengthening the Work of Regulating and Protecting the Red Scarf and Other Symbols of the Young Pioneers” has been jointly published by several government organs, including the Chinese Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the Office of the Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the China National Intellectual Property Administration and the National Committee of Young Pioneers of China. As its name entails, the recent notice aims to protect the intellectual property rights on symbols related to the Young Pioneers of China, a mass youth organization for children aged six to fourteen which includes most elementary school students in the country, and set clear rules for organisations that intend to use these symbols in their events, programmes or promotional activities. The notice stresses that social organizations and their branch institutions, when attempting to use Young Pioneers symbols in their events and activities, have to obtain authorisation in written form from the provincial or national committee of the Young Pioneers in advance; otherwise, they will not be allowed to use any such symbols.
According to the Charity Times report, the publication of the notice was precipitated by the misuse of symbols related to the Young Pioneers in recent events linked to social organizations and charitable activity. The notice makes it clear that once the Committee of Young Pioneers at any level notices a misuse of its symbols by social organizations, it must report it and complain to the organization, and ask them to correct their usage; if organizations break the rules stated in the notice, relevant staff will be banned or sentenced if the case is serious.
