Songwriters win copyright cases

Gong Kaijie, the writer of a highly popular Internet song about the stock market, won a lawsuit yesterday against a singer and Wesbite he said profited by stealing his lyrics.

The Pudong New Area People's Court ordered Zhejiang Fanya Electronic Business Co Ltd and singer Wang Bei to pay Gong 27,000 yuan (US$3,930) for copyright infringement.

Fanya was also ordered to post an apology on the home page of its Website.

The plaintiff wasn't entirely satisfied with the ruling, however. The compensation was far below the 450,000 yuan he sought. His lawyer, Liu Chunquan, said yesterday that Gong hadn't decided whether to appeal.

Liu did say the penalty won't be enough to scare off other copyright violators.

Gong, 33, has been writing music and lyrics for several years. Captivated by the stock market boom, in April 2007, he wrote the lyrics of a song entitled "I Won't Sell The Shares Even If I'm Dead." He asked Wang to sing the song, and he set it to the music of a Taiwanese pop band.

The song went online for free on May 6, 2007, and soon became popular because of its compelling portrayal of the psychology of some investors.

During media interviews, Wang said Gong was the lyrics writer. But she later amended the lyrics and allowed Fanya to offer downloads of the song on its Website for a fee.

Gong charged that the defendants profited by using his song without permission. The defendants argued Gong shouldn't enjoy the copyright because the song's popularity came from the rhythms of the Taiwanese band and Wang's singing.

The court decided that Gong owns the copyright to the lyrics, partly because he received credit for the words when they were first posted on the Internet. In addition, the original and amended versions of the song differed by only 23 characters.