Chinese companies to pay Disney 1.35m yuan for IPR infringement

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A Shanghai court rejected an appeal and maintained the ruling of a copyright infringement case against a Chinese copycat of Disney/Pixar's animated movie "Cars" on Thursday.

Shanghai Intellectual Property Court has ordered the Chinese side to pay 1.35 million yuan (about 200,000 US dollars) to Disney for copyright infringement and unfair completion in its second trial.

Poster of Cars / CFP Photo

Produced by Xiamen’s Bluemtv and released by Beijing’s G-Point Film Culture Media Co., Ltd, "The Autobots" hit big screens in China in July 2015.

However, Disney and Pixar found profound similarities between “The Autobots" and the “Cars” series in terms of Chinese name, characters, and posters.

The two sides then sued the Chinese companies in June 2016, and won the dispute last December by Shanghai New Pudong District People’s Court .

Poster of "The Autobots" /CFP Photo

Both Bluemtv and G-Point later appealed the verdict, defending their creative independence.

They also claim that moviegoers would not confuse the movie with “Cars” as they’ve always promoted it as first domestic car racing animation.

Shanghai Intellectual Property Court ruled that the posters are intentionally made resembled to “Cars”, and the previous compensation fee is reasonable for taking comprehensive aspects into consideration.