On October 20, the infringement case filed by Wang Danxi, heritor of the translator for "Autobiography of Mao Zedong" Mr. Wang Heng, and the author of the new compilation Ding Xiaoping against International Cultural Publishing Company got the first-trial verdict: International Cultural Publishing Company violated the copyright of two plaintiffs and should assume legal responsibilities, stop infringement and compensate for damages. The Company should stop publication and distribution of "Autobiography of Mao Zedong", and compensate the plaintiffs’ economic loss of 30,000 Yuan as well as lawsuit costs of 10,000 Yuan. Since the verdict was quite different from their claims, the two plaintiffs were dissatisfied and said they would appeal.

It is worth mentioning that Mr. Wang Heng participated in the drafting of China's first copyright law in 1979, and acted as the first Copyright Division Chief of China Publication Administration. He was elected twice as the Member of WIPO and UNESCO Copyright Advisory Committee and was the leading copyright expert in China. He was thereby known as "Mr. Chinese copyright" among peers in the international copyright field.

 

(IP Channel of People's Daily Online)