On February 17, the Supreme People’s Court published a selected list of seven cases that have been tried in Chinese courts in recent years with a major impact on people’s lives. They are related to issues such as compensation for demolition, copyright protection and compensation for misjudged cases. In one of the cases, Dacheng senior partner Wang Dengshan successfully represented Chinese literary giant Yang Jiang in obtaining a pre-litigation injunction against copyright infringement.

 

The case is “Yang Jikang (pen name: Yang Jiang) v. Beijing Sungari International Auction Co Ltd and Li Guoqiang”. The court issued a first-ever injunction against the auction company which had intended to publicly auction manuscripts of Qian Zhongshu’s letters in an effort to effectively protect the author’ moral rights.

 

Sun Jungong, spokesperson for the Supreme People’s Court, says that in 2014, the judicial system will enhance information disclosure as a means to improve judicial openness. The goal will be to spread knowledge of the Constitution and the law and to display the judiciary’s people-orientedness and openness in administering the law, by illustrating cases in ways that the ordinary people can easily understand.

 

The following is a summary account of the case offered by the Supreme People’s Court:

 

1.Basic facts

The dispute arises from a planned auction of manuscripts of letters written by the deceased scholar Qian Zhongshu. According to Yang Jikang, the plaintiff, she and Qian were a couple and they had a daughter named Qian Yuan, who is also dead. The three, being friends of Li Guoqiang, one of the defendants, had written over a hundred letters to Li, who was supposed to keep the letters. However, in May 2013, Beijing Sungari International Auction Co Ltd announced that it would hold a public auction on June 21 2013 for Qian Zhongshu’s manuscripts of letters. In preparation for the auction, the company had even scheduled a seminar on June 8 and a preview on June 18-20. Yang Jikang the plaintiff held that Qian Zhongshu, Yang Jikang and Qian Yuan own copyrights of the letters they each had produced. Following the death of Qian Zhongshu on December 19 1998, Yang Jikang inherits the property right of his works, protects the right of attribution, right of revision and right of integrity and exercises the right of publication. When Qian Yuan died on March 4 1997, Yang Jikang and Qian Yuan’s husband Yang Wei collectively inherit the property right of her works, protect the right of attribution, revision and integrity and exercise the right of publication. Although Yang Wei expressly refused to claim his rights in the case, Yang Jikang stood legitimate to relevant rights. Yang held that the auction company and Li Guoqiang’s intended auction, the ongoing exhibition and promotional activities would infringe upon the copyright held and inherited by her and to allow such activities would inflict irreparable damages to her legitimate rights and interests. She therefore applied to the court for an injunction against the auction company and Li Guoqiang on their planned auction, exhibition and promotion of letters of which Yang holds the copyright.

 

2.The court’s verdict

Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court issued the following verdict in pursuant to the amended Civil Procedural Law: Beijing Sungari International Auction Co Ltd should not infringe upon the copyright of letters written to Li Guoqing by Qian Zhongshu, Yang Jikang and Qian Yuan by publishing, exhibiting, copying, distributing or transmitting on the Internet the relevant letters. When the verdict was received, the auction company immediately made a statement that it would cancel the public auction scheduled on June 21 2013.

 

3.Significance of the case

In this case, the court issued the first-ever injunction against copyright infringement since the amended 2012 Civil Procedural Law came into effect. At the same time, as it involved Qian Zhongshu, the late renowned writer and literature academic and Yang Jiang, famous writer, translator and foreign literature academic, it received a lot of attention from the society. The trial court promptly and rationally adopted preservative measures in pursuant to application conditions and procedures stipulated in the Law, which not only offered immediate protection for the right holder, but only prevented the abuse of the right of action. The court was also aware that the public was much concerned about the exposure of the Qian family’s letters and that the trial of the case would have profound social impact; therefore, an issue of injunction would be the best alternative to save both parties. The case informs the public of the copyright and right of privacy of letters and showcases the authority of law and the instructive function of the judiciary.