[2] Compiled from: Lixia District, Jinan City[5] People's Court[3] , China Intellectual Property News
 
Case review
In March 2007, the Shandong Provincial Copyright Office registered the copyright of the artistic work titled "Ancient Gelatin Boiling Illustration" for Dong'e Ejiao Company, with the author and copyright holder being Dong'e Ejiao Company. The main content of the work includes: one illustration depicting multiple people boiling gelatin in a large pot, referred to as the Gelatin Boiling Illustration; and another illustration showing people tasting gelatin, referred to as the Gelatin Tasting Illustration. Subsequently, Dong'e Ejiao Company obtained registered trademarks for the Gelatin Tasting Illustration and the Gelatin Boiling Illustration, both of which remain valid to date. During the trial, the plaintiff submitted a set of certificates to demonstrate that it had received a series of honors, including "Shandong Famous Brand."

 
 

In December 2019, the plaintiff applied to a notary office for evidence preservation notarization. Subsequently, two notaries accompanied the plaintiff's authorized representative to a supermarket in Huaiyin District, Jinan City. The plaintiff's authorized representative selected a box of gelatin, paid via Alipay, and obtained a printed receipt and three fixed-amount invoices. The packaging box indicated the manufacturer as a certain food company in Changzhou. The notaries photographed the scene and the purchased items, and sealed the relevant items. Upon comparison, the decorative pattern on the packaging box of the allegedly infringing product was essentially identical to the character images and actions in the plaintiff's involved work. During the trial, the defendant, a certain food company in Changzhou, submitted a "Product Removal Notice" dated August 2020, stating that it required all sales units to remove the involved products from shelves, and provided sales records and inventory quantity lists, which the plaintiff did not acknowledge.
 
 
[1] Relevant laws and regulations
[5] "Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 11: Copyright belongs to the author, unless otherwise provided by this law.
 
"Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Disputes over Copyright"
Article 7: Manuscripts, originals, legally published works, copyright registration certificates, certificates issued by certification bodies, contracts for obtaining rights, and other materials related to copyright provided by the parties may be used as evidence.
 
 
[1] Court Opinion
The Jinan Lixia District Court ruled that the defendant, a certain food company in Changzhou, and a certain supermarket in Jinan must immediately cease infringing on the plaintiff Dong'e Ejiao Company's copyright in the artistic work "Ancient Gelatin Boiling Illustration" on gelatin beverage products, and remove the "Ancient Gelatin Boiling Illustration" artistic work from the inventory of the allegedly infringing products. The defendant, a certain food company in Changzhou, was ordered to compensate the plaintiff Dong'e Ejiao Company for economic losses and reasonable expenses totaling 30,000 yuan; the defendant, a certain supermarket in Jinan, was ordered to bear joint and several liability within the range of 5,000 yuan. The first-instance judgment in this case has taken effect.

 

 
[1] The author's perspective
[1] The artistic works referred to in China's Copyright Law refer to two-dimensional or three-dimensional plastic artworks with aesthetic significance, such as paintings, calligraphy, and sculptures, which are composed of lines, colors, or other means. Copyright law protects the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. Generally speaking, thoughts, concepts, theories, ideas, creativity, notions, and methods of operation fall within the realm of ideas and are not protected by copyright law.
 
[2] Artistic works differ from other works in that they require the work itself to have aesthetic significance, with their functional value lying in conveying visual experience. In this case, the "Boiling Glue Diagram" and "Tasting Glue Diagram" both add relevant elements to the physical objects and utilize colors, shapes, etc., reflecting the author's original intellectual labor and possessing a certain aesthetic appeal, thus constituting artistic works. Since copyright arises automatically upon the completion of the work and is protected by law after registration, a certain food company in Changzhou, having infringed upon others' copyright, must bear the corresponding legal consequences.