Suit: Sony and partner pirated TV animations

BEIJING - Chinese animation companies are often accused of copying or illegally using foreign works, but a recent complaint tells a different story - with international electronics giant Sony and its content partner charged with copyright violations.

Shanghai-based Shuimu Animation Design Co Ltd filed a lawsuit against Sony and online content provider Beijing AnviewTech Co Ltd last month in Dongcheng District Court claiming the two companies pirated its creations.

Saga began

The saga began in April when a senior executive at Shuimu bought a Sony LED TV that can use the Internet to access online videos provided by AnviewTech.

After registering the TV online at the Sony and AnviewTech websites, he was informed that he could "enjoy all the services and settings provided by the operator".

When he switched to the animation channel for kids, he found that most of the content provided by AnviewTech was actually made by his own company.

The next day he confirmed that Shuimu does not have agreements with either Sony or AnviewTech for use of the material.

"It was then that we realized our products had been pirated," said Shen Ying, vice-president of Shuimu."We might still be in the dark if not for the unexpected discovery."

The Art of War

Shen said many of Shuimu's animations were offered for viewing including 5,000 Years of Chinese History, The Art of War and Stories of Idioms, whose copyrights are held by Shuimu and its subsidiary company Wuxi Yitang Animation Design.

Shuimu and Yitang filed the lawsuit on July 25. The court will begin mediation between the two sides today.

Zhang Malin, a lawyer and lecturer at Southeast University, said the claim was "basically reasonable - but it is hard to tell which one of the two defendants should take bigger responsibility".

Neither Sony China nor AnviewTech has commented on the suit.

China's artists and technicians have robust techniques in animation, but rampant piracy is one of the main reasons the local industry is poorly developed, Zhang noted.

"Piracy greatly reduces the innovation passion of animators," he said.

"Insufficient funding is also a contributing factor in the difficulty in producing good works," he added.

"We will not only defend our intellectual property rights in this case," Shen said. "Also, we want to do something for the healthy development of the Chinese animation industry."