Zhang Xiaoyan v. Lei Xianhe, Zhao Qi, and Shandong Aishuren DVDs & Books Co., Ltd.
China Supreme People’s Court
Guiding Case No. 81 (2017)
- Written by Eric Miller, JD
Facts
Zhang Xiaoyan (Zhang) (plaintiff) wrote and copyrighted the screenplay for a TV series, A Cavalry Troop on the Plateau, which was adapted from another author’s novel, Snow Land and Headwaters. Lei Xianhe (Lei) (defendant), who performed production duties on the series, also served as producer for another series, Last Cavalry, which was adapted from a novel called Traveling to the End of the World by Riding and Carrying a Gun. Both series and both novels were centered around the drawdown of Chinese cavalry that occurred in the mid-1980s. Zhang purchased DVDs of Last Cavalry from Shandong Aishuren DVDs & Books Company, Ltd. (Aishuren Company) (defendant) and noticed similarities between the series. Zhang then brought suit for copyright infringement against Lei, Aishuren Company, and Zhao Qi (defendant), who wrote the Last Cavalry screenplay. The Jinan City, Shandong Province Intermediate People’s Court dismissed Zhang’s claims, and the higher people’s court of the same province affirmed. Zhang appealed to the Supreme People’s Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Yu, Luo, Li, J.J.)
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