The photographs of Lei Feng, a exemplary soldier, have received copyright protection from the copyright administration of Liaoning Province, northeast China.

Zhang Jun, the photographer and Lei Feng's comrade-in-arms, was honored as an "exemplary individual on legal right protection" by the administration the same day.

Probably the only ordinary Chinese to be remembered by the whole nation, Lei Feng was born a peasant in 1940 and had lost both his parents by the age of seven. At 20, he joined the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and spent all his spare time and money helping the needy. On Aug. 15, 1962, he was killed when a reversing truck struck a pole that fell on him.

Lei Feng became a household name in March 1963 when late Chairman Mao Zedong called on the whole nation to learn from him, and March 5 has been designated "Learning from Lei Feng Day." Ever since, a national "Learn from Lei Feng" campaign continued despite convulsive changes in the country's contemporary history.

The spirit of the young soldier, whose life was cut short at the age of 22, has remained alive, and his patriotism, compassion and self-sacrifice have become moral markers for the 1.3 billion population.

Zhang Jun, 77, joined the PLA in 1946. Later he worked as journalist and got to know Lei Feng in the Shenyang Military Area Command. From 1961 to 1962, he took 223 photos of Lei Feng, bringing Lei Feng's boyish smile to posters, newspapers, television, children's textbooks and later the Internet.

During the past 40 years, all the photos have been used by the mass media without his authorization or any reward, said Zhang.

"At the beginning, I don't mind people using my photos because I thought the photos were common treasure for the whole of humanity," he said.

But later more newspapers or periodicals adopted the photos without affixing his name and some even altered the illustrations, hang said.

"I had not thought about protecting my legal rights with legal means," said Zhang, adding that though all-level governments across the country had taken great efforts to promote the protection of intellectual property rights among the public, problems remained.

"The photos have great value not only as historic documents, but also as art works. So to apply for copyright protection for the photos conformed to the Lei Feng Spirit, which calls for devotion and self-sacrifice for those in need," Zhang said.

The payment from the photos would all be used for publicizing the Lei Feng Spirit and volunteer activities, said Zhang.

(Xinhua News Agency June 29, 2003)