Qian Zhongshu and People’s Publishing House v. Xu Zhifen and Sichuan Literature & Arts Publishing House
Shanghai Higher People’s Court
Shanghai Higher People’s Court (1996)
- Written by Eric Miller, JD
Facts
Siege, a literary work by Qian Zhongshu (Qian) (plaintiff), was originally published in the late 1940s as a series in a magazine. Over the next several years, Qian made numerous changes to the work, which was also published as a single volume. In 1980, Qian gave People’s Publishing House (plaintiff) exclusive rights to publish Siege under a contract whose term expired in 1990 but which was renewed for another 10 years. In the early 1990s, Xu Zhifen (Xu) (defendant) proofread and compiled a version of Siege from the original magazine installments. This version, which was not authorized by Qian, was published by Sichuan Literature & Arts Publishing House (Sichuan Literature & Arts) (defendant). Qian and People’s Publishing House brought suit against Xu and Sichuan Literature & Arts in the Shanghai Intermediate People’s Court, seeking a public apology and payment of a portion of the proceeds from sales of the unauthorized version. The court found in favor of Qian and People’s Publishing House. An error in the calculation of damages brought the case before the Shanghai Higher People’s Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning ()
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