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Chinese court orders Dow Jones to compensate calligrapher
Beijing, Sept 23: A Beijing court has ordered Dow Jones to pay 49,000 US dollars as compensation and to offer a written apology to a famous Chinese calligrapher for copyright infringement.
Beijing, Sept 23: A Beijing court has ordered Dow Jones to pay 49,000 US dollars as compensation and to offer a written apology to a famous Chinese calligrapher for copyright
infringement.
The Beijing No 1 intermediate people's court
yesterday asked Dow Jones to pay a compensation of 405,684
yuan, cease using the plaintiff's calligraphy as a corporate
symbol and to give a written apology to the calligrapher, Guan
Dongsheng.
The case has its origin in 1994 when plaintiff Guan, a professor at the central University of Nationalities gave a calligraphy of "Dao," the first character of Dow Jones' Chinese translation, to the US company's chief executive officer as a gift.
Without permission from Guan, the global media giant began to use his handwriting as Dow Jones' corporate symbol on its website, advertisements and business cards.
According to the copyright law, Dow Jones did not acquire the copyright of the calligraphy even though it was presented with the original version of the handwriting, 'China Daily' quoted court sources as saying.
Dow Jones' Beijing office declined to comment on the judgment, and Li Qing, a lawyer representing Dow Jones, said the company is still deciding whether to appeal to a higher court.
Bureau Report
The case has its origin in 1994 when plaintiff Guan, a professor at the central University of Nationalities gave a calligraphy of "Dao," the first character of Dow Jones' Chinese translation, to the US company's chief executive officer as a gift.
Without permission from Guan, the global media giant began to use his handwriting as Dow Jones' corporate symbol on its website, advertisements and business cards.
According to the copyright law, Dow Jones did not acquire the copyright of the calligraphy even though it was presented with the original version of the handwriting, 'China Daily' quoted court sources as saying.
Dow Jones' Beijing office declined to comment on the judgment, and Li Qing, a lawyer representing Dow Jones, said the company is still deciding whether to appeal to a higher court.
Bureau Report