Taiwanese artist Jimmy Liao is demanding 300,000 yuan (US$36,145) in compensation for copyright infringement from a Beijing-based publisher and a local bookstore.

During the first hearing held yesterday at the Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court, the plaintiff accused Taihai Publishing House of issuing a book called Flying Bird and Fish under the name of Ji Mi, Liao's pen name.

Liao has never authored such a book.

Jifeng bookstore, one of the city's most popular bookstore chains that operates bookstores along metro stations, was accused of selling the book.

In its defense, Taihai said the book was written and illustrated by Fan Mi, rather than Ji Mi. The Chinese character of "fan" is very similar to the character of "ji."

"It is so obvious that Taihai is trying to confuse readers," said Yusan Lee, Liao's agent.

"No matter Fan Mi or Ji Mi, the whole book just pieced up a story with materials stolen from seven of Jimmy's published books," said Liu Xun, Liao's attorney, "We found that more than 40-odd pictures and paragraphs were lifted from Ji Mi's works."

At the court, the plaintiff's lawyer opened a mail parcel of Ji Mi's books he ordered from the publisher. It contained Fan Mi's book.

"We have never published any book by Ji Mi. It must be piracy," said Zhao Yajun, Taihai attorney. "We have only produced a book written by Fan Mi. In addition, I don't know if there is any similarity between our book and Jimmy's work."

The court evidence provided by Liao's agent and lawyer also included the same book under Ji Mi's name, which they bought from Jifeng store.

Jifeng claimed innocence.

"We purchase books from legal wholesalers. We should not be held accountable in a copyright lawsuit," said Luo Zaiying, a spokeswoman for Jifeng.

Liao, 44, has written and illustrated books with simple stories about how people cope in the modern urban world and they have become best sellers in many Asian cities.

His works were introduced to the mainland in simplified Chinese characters in March last year and more than 2.7 million copies have since been sold.

According to Lee, Liao's success has resulted in many lawsuits in Shanghai and other provinces.

The shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court is also hearing another case between Liao and Hualing Publishing House on copyright violation.

Then, there are cases in Tianjin and Chengdu, where real estate developers used Jimmy's creations in their advertisements without his approval.

(eastday.com December 2, 2003)