The Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court on Monday ordered a publishing company in north China's Shanxi Province to pay 213,800 yuan (US$25,000) to Paws Inc., copyright owner of the world-famous comic-strip cat, Garfield, for infringement.

The American plaintiff's copyright is protected in China, as both countries are members of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.

The Taiyuan-based Hope Press asserts that it paid for the use of the material.

"Hope Press signed an agreement with Paws through its agent company, RM, in 1998 to acquire the publishing rights of the Chinese version of Garfield stories," Liu Zhijun, the lawyer representing Hope, told China Daily.

He said that the publisher paid Paws 253,000 yuan (US$31,000).

The American company, which is owned by the cynical orange cat's creator, Jim Davis, categorically denied having reached an agreement with Hope over rights to publish the Chinese version of Garfield.

Hope Press has not yet announced whether it will appeal the decision to a higher court.

Tang Zhaozhi, representing the plaintiff, said that he was satisfied with the judgment. "Although the figure is less than our initial claim of 772,200 yuan (US$93,000), the result is acceptable."

Garfield first appeared in US comic pages on June 19, 1978, and Davis founded Paws in 1981 to support Garfield licensing and global business. Paws remains a privately held company and the sole owner of the copyrights and trademarks for Garfield and related characters.

Hope Press published a series of Garfield stories in Chinese in 1999, including 11 books.

The Beijing court found that any contract concerning the copyright to Garfield must be approved and signed by Paws.

"Since the American plaintiff denied there was a contract with the publishing house or RM, the court rejected the defendant's claim that Paws had approved of their publishing of Garfield," Chief Judge Liu Wei concluded on Monday in court. "The publishing of Garfield without Paws' authorization violated the copyright owner's rights of duplication, publishing and remuneration," the judge said.

Hope Press was also ordered not to publish any further Garfield series.

(China Daily December 21, 2004)