Story of Yanxi Palace Fined S$12,000 For Copyright Infringement In All 70 Episodes - 8days Skip to main content

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Story of Yanxi Palace Fined S$12,000 For Copyright Infringement In All 70 Episodes

Some would say that's nothing compared to how much the show has made.

Story of Yanxi Palace Fined S$12,000 For Copyright Infringement In All 70 Episodes

Now we know being 2018's Most Googled show on Earth comes at a price.

Recently, hit period drama Story of Yanxi Palace, which starred ex-TVB actress Charmaine Sheh and propelled Chinese stars Wu Jinyan, Qin Lan, Xu Kai as well as our own Lawrence Wong to fame, was ordered to pay a 60,000 yuan (S$12,000) fine for copyright infringement.

What exactly did they copy?

According to Sina Entertainment, the show had allegedly infringed copyrights to the photographic works of someone named “Fan Mou”. 

Reportedly, Fan Mou claimed that his works published on TuCong.com and Weibo were used by Yanxi for its title sequence and six extra episodes without his consent, and that it constituted commercial use. 

Based on this reason, Fan Mou sued three companies, Beijing iQiyi Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai Baoyue Film and Television Investment Co., Ltd., and Dongyang Huanyu Film and Television Culture Co., Ltd.

What would Wei Yingluo say?

Initially, the production company Dongyang Huanyu argued that the evidence provided by Fan Mou was insufficient to prove that he was the copyright owner of the photographic work, and that the alleged infringing image only took up “a frame of the title”. 

But after the trial, the three companies were still ordered by the Court of First Instance to compensate 60,000 yuan to Fan Mou.

Dongyang Huanyu and Shanghai Baoyue are also required to issue an apology in the People’s Court News within 10 days of the effective date of the judgment.

As soon as the word got out, netizens immediately started giving their two cents' worth about the case, criticising how "the show has already made so much money."

Netizens even chastised the show's producer, Yu Zheng, for always getting involved in copyright issues.

"Why is it that Yu Zheng is always either plagiarising or infringing copyrights?" asked one netizen.

"Most of Yu Zheng's works are involved in varying degrees of plagiarism," said another.

Photos: PME Media / hk01

Watch all episodes of Yanxi Palace here:

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