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Museum loses copyright suit over Mao
painting
In a richly ironic triumph for China's
capitalist ambitions over leftist heritage, its revolutionary museum has lost a
copyright lawsuit over a painting of Communist founder Mao Zedong.
The Museum of the Chinese Revolution - a major
landmark in central Beijing - and a Shanghai company were ordered to pay the
Chinese artist's family 260,000 yuan (S$54,320) for selling copies without
permission, Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.
Such a verdict would surely have horrified
Mao, leader of the 1949 revolution that eliminated most private property.
But China's leaders are creating new property
rights as part of capitalist-style reforms launched after his 1976 death. They
are especially eager to show they are enforcing patents and copyrights amid
widespread foreign complaints of product piracy.
The lawsuit was brought by the daughter of the
late Dong Xiwen, whose painting shows Mao and other leaders at the founding of
Communist China.
Xinhua said Dong Yisha complained that the
museum and the Shanghai Guangyuan Co sold 15,000 prints on goldleaf in 1999
without the family's permission.
The Beijing Higher People's Court ruled that
while the museum is allowed to display Mr Dong's painting, reproduction rights
are still held by his widow and children, Xinhua said. It said the ruling was
issued recently, but didn't give a date.
The verdict is especially striking because the
museum is a repository for photos, artwork and artifacts from the revolution.
An appeal by the museum and the Shanghai
company was dismissed last week, Xinhua said.
'The result justifies respect for the creative
work of an artist in a civilised society,' Dong Yisha, a painter in her 40s, was
quoted as saying.
State media have been filled with reports of
such pioneering lawsuits over property rights, personal injuries and other
matters in a campaign to promote an image of China's courts as a tool for
economic growth and social stability.
Chinese leaders want the heavily politicised
courts to be seen as more professional and impartial. They hope both to increase
confidence for foreign investors and restore public faith in a system where
corruption and official abuses threaten to destroy acceptance of Communist rule.
The court in the painting lawsuit noted
that under Chinese law, a copyright extends until 50 years after an artist's
death, according to Xinhua. It said Dong Xiwen died about 30 years ago. - AP
Singapore
Business Times 30 Dec 2002
