Court rejects writer's copyright claim

A writer who sued a government website for copyright infringement after they republished his article from another site has lost his case, Guangzhou Daily reported on Thursday.

Yuan Chang, who wrote a story about Wang Jianying, deputy Party secretary of Xinchenzi district of Shenyang city in Liaoning province, published his work on csr.mos.gov.cn on Oct 11, 2006.

The report was reposted on the official website of Commission for Inspecting Discipline of Zhuhai city (zhjj.gov.cn).

Yuan claimed his work was reproduced without permission and violated his rights.

He asked the website to delete the report and pay compensation of 9,600 yuan ($1,600).

But because the website marked with the original source and writer, and has not gained any profit from the report, Zhuhai Intermediate People's Court dismissed the plaintiff's claim.