Guards of honour win case against toy-making company

On the eve of Army Day, portrait and name rights of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) guard of honour were safeguarded in a Beijing court against a Shenzhen-based toy company, which used its image and name for advertising.

The Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court issued a final judgment yesterday, ordering the Shenzhen Xinhe Handicraft Company to stop using the portrait, make a public apology to the guard of honour of three services and pay a compensation of 800,000 yuan (US$100,000).

Early last year, the army found that the handicraft company used pictures and names of the guard of honour representing the navy, ground and air forces to promote its replica guns and swords in Beijing, without authorization.

"Reputation of the army was damaged as many people believed that the army was advertising for the company," the indictment said.

In fact, the company began to sell the replica guns and swords in 2001. More than 16,000 items have been sold throughout China, and total sales were 60 million yuan (US$7.4 million).

The army sued the company in April 2005 at the Beijing Haidian District People's Court for name, portrait and fame rights violation.

The guard of honour initially asked for a compensation of 2.48 million yuan (US$306,000).

The Shenzhen-based company insisted that it did not violate rights of the army.

Company sources said that the guard of honour was not an artificial person in law and could not act as plaintiff.

The company also said that using pictures and names of the honour guard did not damage fame of the army.

The Haidian District People's Court made a judgment for first instance last November to confirm that the Xinhe company violated the rights of the army and order the company to pay a compensation of 100,000 yuan (US$12,500) and issue a public apology.

Both sides appealed the judgment to the Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court.

A hearing was held this March at the intermediate court.

The final judgment made yesterday said that portrait and name rights of the PLA guard of honour should be protected but the company did not defame the army.

Zhou Kejia, the lawyer representing the guard of honour, said she was very satisfied with the final judgment.

The Shenzhen-based company was absent from court yesterday, and was not available for comment by telephone.

Source: China Daily