[PEN-L:33466] Capitalist property rights triumph on Mao painting

[ScottH9999@xxxxxxx]

One of the curious things about discussions among "leftists" is that we can't
agree about ANYTHING. Even about what capitalism and socialism are.

Is China a capitalist country, for example? Well, most people on the left are
finally starting to admit that China has become a capitalist country--though
there are still plenty of people who disagree.

While it is true that some remnants of the socialist era still linger on in
China, they are disappearing at a rapid pace. The article below illustrates
the "progress" in the development of intellectual property rights in China.

--Scott Harrison


Chinese Museum Loses Copyright Lawsuit

By JOE McDONALD
.c The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) - In a triumph for China's capitalist ambitions over its leftist
history, the country's 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 the
equivalent of $31,000 for selling copies without permission, the official
Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday.

The verdict would likely 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 death in 1976. 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. The painting
shows Mao and other leaders at the founding of communist China, Xinhua said.

The newspaper 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 Dong's painting, reproduction rights are still held by his widow and
children, Xinhua said. It said the ruling was issued recently without giving
a date.

The museum's vast building is within sight of Mao's mausoleum on Tiananmen
Square and across from the Great Hall of the People, where the Communist
Party holds meetings.

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
civilized society,'' Dong Yisha was quoted as saying. She is also a painter.

Recent news reports have detailed several lawsuits over property rights,
personal injuries and other matters. Chinese leaders want to promote an image
of China's courts as a tool for economic growth and social stability.

They also hope both to increase foreign investors' confidence and to restore
public faith in a system where rampant corruption and official abuses
threaten to destroy acceptance of communist rule.

Human rights groups and foreign trading partners are pressuring China to
reduce corruption and political interference courts and to make rulings
conform to legal guidelines.

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.

Xinhua quoted the trial judge as saying the agreement with the Shanghai
company had called for the museum to get 20 percent of the profits from sales
of the reproductions. There was no indication how much money either side made.



12/28/02 08:44 EST