Who's in: Pop band wins pirated CD case
With CD piracy running rampant in China, it is really encouraging to see famous Chinese pop band Yu Quan win a case involving the pirating of their album.
Two companies, one in Guangzhou and the other in Beijing, were ordered to stop copying, producing and selling pirated CD copies of their album Can't Do Without You. The companies were also fined 52,500 yuan ($6,560) and 500 yuan ($40) respectively.
Ironically, the band will be taken to court in Beijing this weekend in response to a suit filed by a lyricist in Shanxi Province who claims the band copied his lyrics in one of their songs.
The band has denied the claim, saying it is "Li's way to gain publicity." Since the duo Yu Fan and Hu Haiquan (pictured) formed their band in 1998, they have emerged as one of China's top pop bands. They have released six albums to date.
(China Daily 01/10/2007 page18)
