Chinese Court Rules Dow Jones Violated a Copyright With Logo
A Chinese court ruled that Dow Jones & Co. violated the copyright of a Chinese calligrapher in its use of a corporate logo in China.
The Beijing First Intermediate People's Court ruled on Monday that Dow Jones violated the copyright of Guan Dongsheng by using his calligraphy of a Chinese character for commercial purposes without his permission. The court ordered Dow Jones, which publishes both The Wall Street Journal and The Asian Wall Street Journal, to immediately stop using Mr. Guan's 1994 rendition of the character dao, which is the first part of the transliteration of Dow Jones's name in Chinese and has been the centerpiece of the company's corporate logo in China for almost a decade. The court also ordered Dow Jones to pay Mr. Guan $49,000 in compensation and to issue a written apology.
"I am basically satisfied with today's decision," said the 53-year-old Mr. Guan after the ruling. "It not only defends my own rights but also safeguards the dignity of Chinese intellectual-property law." He expressed disappointment at the low compensation awarded and said he might seek further legal action outside China.
"Today's ruling was a disappointment," Dow Jones said in a statement from Matt Roberts , its corporate representative in China. "We believe the facts of the case clearly show there was no violation of Mr. Guan's rights. We had an agreement, and Mr. Guan, on the basis of that agreement, maintained an active and beneficial relationship with Dow Jones in China from 1994 to the end of 2001, including his prominent participation in 1996 in a promotional event that featured his calligraphy."
The statement added, "Despite this ongoing dialogue, Mr. Guan claimed he was unaware of our use of his dao character, then admitted in court that his relationship with Dow Jones was maintained over the years for the purpose of collecting evidence for this case. We are surprised that such behavior would be rewarded by China's legal system. We will be consulting our legal counsel and reserve the right to appeal today's ruling."
The case was a fight over an ink-brush rendering of the dao character. In 1994, both sides agree, Mr. Guan wrote a 60-centimeter-high version of the character, mounted it on a traditional rice-paper scroll, and presented it to Dow Jones as a gift to Peter Kann, the company's New York-based chairman. Soon after, Dow Jones began to use Mr. Guan's rendition of the dao as a corporate logo on its stationery, in marketing materials and on its Web site. The company says it told Mr. Guan that it would use the character for commercial purposes and that he verbally agreed. There was no written contract.
Dao literally means "path" or "way," and is at the center of Chinese philosophical tradition, connoting that there is one path to wisdom and to leading a correct life.
Mr. Guan says he intended the written character purely as a personal gift and only discovered last year that Dow Jones was using it for commercial purposes. He filed suit against Dow Jones in March alleging it violated his copyright, and seeking $600,000 in damages and a public apology.
In Monday's ruling, judge Ma Laike said Dow Jones failed to provide adequate evidence that it had obtained approval from Mr. Guan for using his dao character for commercial purposes. "Without permission of the plaintiff, the reproduction, distribution and Internet transmission all violated the plaintiff's copyright," the ruling said.
中国法院裁定道琼斯侵犯书法家著作权
中国一家法院裁定道琼斯公司(Dow Jones & Co. Inc., DJ)在中国使用的企业标识侵犯了一位中国书法家的著作权。
北京市第一中级人民法院周一作出判决，道琼斯公司在没有取得关东升授权的情况下，将关东升书写的一个中国汉字用于商业目的，侵犯了其著作权。北京市第一中级人民法院裁定要求道琼斯公司立即停止使用关东升1994年书写的“道”字。“道”是道琼斯公司中文译名的第一个字，并成为该公司在中国的企业标识的核心部分已有近10年之久。道琼斯公司拥有并出版《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal)和《亚洲华尔街日报》(The Asian Wall Street Journal)。
法院还裁定道琼斯公司赔偿关东升49,000美元，并向关东升作出书面道歉。
53岁的关东升在法院判决宣布后说，他对法院的判决基本满意。他说，这不仅维护了他的著作权，还捍卫了中国知识产权法的尊严。他对法院判决较低的赔偿金额表示失望。他表示，他有可能在中国之外寻求进一步诉讼。
道琼斯公司驻中国代表饶猛志(Matt Roberts)在一份声明中表示：“今天的判决令人失望。我们相信，本案的事实清楚地表明，不存在（道琼斯）对关东升著作权的侵犯。我们协议在先，而且关东升在该协议的基础上与中国道琼斯公司从1994年至2001年年底期间保持了积极、互惠的关系，其中包括他1996年参加一次以其书法作品为特点的宣传活动。”
这份声明还补充称，“尽管双方一直在对话，但关东升声称他对道琼斯公司使用其“道”字作为该公司企业标识并不知情，随后又在法庭上承认他与道琼斯公司保持数年的关系，目的就是为这起诉讼搜集证据。我们对这样的行为能受到中国司法体系的支持感到惊讶。我们将咨询我们的律师，并保留对今日裁决提起上诉的权利。”
本案的纷争围绕的是毛笔书写的“道”字。1994年，关东升书写了一个60厘米高的“道”字，并将之裱糊在传统的中国书画宣纸上，作为礼物赠送给道琼斯公司董事长康比德(Peter Kann)。对这一事实双方均予以了承认。此后不久，道琼斯公司开始将关东升书写的“道”字作为其企业标识，用在公司信纸、宣传材料以及公司网站上。道琼斯公司表示，公司曾告知关东升，将把这个字用于商业目的，关东升当时口头上同意了。当时没有签订书面协议。
“道”的字面意思是“小径”或“道路”，为中国传统哲学的核心，言外之意是有一条通往智慧和正确生活的途径。
关东升表示，他原打算将这个字纯粹作为私人礼物，直到去年才发现道琼斯公司将这个字用于商业目的。今年3月他起诉道琼斯公司侵犯了其著作权，要求赔偿600,000美元，并公开道歉。
在周一的裁决中，北京市第一中级人民法院审判长马来客表示，道琼斯公司未能提供充分证据证明它获得了关东升的同意将这个“道”字用于商业目的。这份判决称，未经原告许可，复制、发行和在互联网上传播原告的作品均对原告的著作权构成侵犯。
