Beijing Higher People’s Court Affirms Win for Belgian Artist Christian Silvain in Copyright Suit Against Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts Professor

The National Law Jnl

Marking the conclusion of a long legal battle, the Beijing Higher People’s Court recently affirmed an August 24, 2023 decision by the Beijing IP Court against Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts Professor Ye Yongqing. The Beijing IP Court ruled that Ye infringed the copyright of Silvain in his paintings and ordered Ye to pay Silvain 5 million RMB, publish an apology and cease infringement. That apology was published in China’s Legal Daily on January 23, 2025.

 

Ye Yongqing’s public apology to Belgian painter Christian Silvain for plagiarizing his artworks.
Left: Artwork by Silvain in 1990. Right: Artwork by Ye from 1994.

 

The apology reads,

I, Ye Yongqing, have received the final judgment of the Beijing Higher People’s Court for the copyright dispute with Christian Silvain, case number (2024) ???471?? The appeals court upheld the original judgment, case number (2019) ?73??1376, and ruled that some of my works infringed. I respect the Court’s judgment, sincerely accept the criticism, review the lessons, and sincerely apologize to Mr. Silvain.

I have been unable to locate the appeals decision but a copy of the ruling from the Beijing IP Court courtesy of ???? is available here (Chinese only).

https://natlawreview.com/article/beijing-higher-peoples-court-affirms-win-belgian-artist-christian-silvain-copyright