Individual loses copyright lawsuit against U.S. movie studio

A Chinese writer on Friday lost his lawsuit claiming U.S. movie giant 20th Century Fox had stolen the ideas and plots of his plays Friday.

The Intermediate People's Court of Dongying, in east China's Shandong Province, ruled that 43-year-old science fiction writer Li Jianmin had insufficient proof to support his accusation.

Li has accused the movie studio of copying the concepts and plots of two plays he completed in 2001 and 2002 in the 2004 science fiction blockbuster "The Day After Tomorrow," which depicted a crisis brought about by global warming.

Li claimed the movie had at least 308 scenes substantially similar to his plays, an apparent copying of his work without his approval.

According to the first-instant decision, Li was unable to verify that his two plays were completed in October 2001 and October 2002, and the witness testimony about the time was unreliable.

Moreover, he could not establish that 20th Century Fox had access to his plays, although Li claimed that he showed one of the plays to friends after it was finished and brought both plays to Beijing for a contest in November 2002.

Li said he would file an appeal with a higher court.

Li lodged the lawsuit in March last year against the studio, the director and five Chinese companies that imported and distributed the film.

He requested the court acknowledge copyright infringement by the defendants and that they pay all legal costs, but he made no claim for damages.

A lawyer for 20th Century Fox denied the company had infringed Li's copyright.