Chinese Artist Fined 5 Million Yuan in ‘Landmark Case’ for Plagiarizing Foreign Work

Ye Yongqing, a renowned Chinese contemporary artist, has been fined 5 million yuan ($684,000) by a court in Beijing for plagiarizing the work of a foreign painter, in a years-long legal battle that has sent ripples through the international art community.

The plaintiff, Belgian painter Christian Silvain, applauded the verdict, despite the awarded compensation falling far short of the over 60 million yuan that he had initially sought, saying that the judgment had made the European market more optimistic about China’s protection of intellectual property rights.