Chinese company loses copyright lawsuit for Japan's "Crayon Shin-chan"

A Chinese company on Friday lost its lawsuit against a Japanese publisher of the cartoon series "Crayon Shin-chan" for infringing upon the latter's copyright.

Shanghai Enjia Economy and Trade Development Co. Ltd., whose products range from garments, shoes and socks to bags and stationery, was ordered to stop infringing upon a copyright owned Japan's Futabasha Publishers Ltd., the Shanghai Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court ruled Friday.

The Shanghai company was also ordered to pay 300,000 yuan (47,619 U.S. dollars) to Futabasha in compensation, the court ruled.

Futabasha said it had bought the copyright for "Crayon Shin-chan," which centers around daily life of Shinnosuke, a mischievous five-year-old boy, from Japanese cartoonist Yoshito Usui in 1992, the court heard.

But the Shanghai company also used images of "Crayon Shin-chan" for commodities, trademarks and promotional activities without authorization for several years, it heard.