Officials with the copyright administration are suggesting mainland publishers learn more from their overseas counterparts and use the law to safeguard their rights.

"The recent case about Peter Rabbit is a reminder to the country's enterprises to be more aware of legal issues, which too many Chinese enterprises have neglected," said Xu Chao, senior official with the State Copyright Administration.

Last month, the Chinese Academy of Social Science Press, which published a series of four Peter Rabbit books, was ruled to have infringed upon the trademarks owned by Frederick Warne & Co Ltd and was fined 350,000 yuan (US$42,200).

The United Kingdom-based Frederick Warne & Co Ltd registered three Chinese characters of "Peter Rabbit" and all the illustrations in the Peter Rabbit series in China as trademarks in 1994 after the books entered the public domain.

The industrial and commercial organization cited the Trademark Law and ruled that "using trademarks on the same kind of merchandise as the registered trademarks" infringed on the trademark owner's rights.

"But the problem now is whether the Chinese characters of 'Peter Rabbit' and its illustrations used by the press should be regarded as trademarks or only book titles," said Xu, adding book titles with the same characters as trademarks should be regarded as a part of books.

As an example, he cited famous Chinese novels like "Dream of the Red Chamber," saying the titles can be registered as trademarks according to the international agreement.

"But if publishers are afraid of infringing on the trademark owner's rights and thus use another title on the cover of the novel, readers are not likely to accept that," he said.

Likewise for the Peter Rabbit illustrations painted by the author, the late Beatrix Potter, he added.

"Regarding book titles like Peter Rabbit as trademarks is against the principle of public order and fair practice in the civil law," he stressed.

The State Administration For Industry & Commerce, with a department devoted to dealing with trademark issues, refused to comment on the dispute before the case concludes.

Insiders say that, like Peter Rabbit, story books and films will eventually enter the public domain, and re-releasing them will remain a problem for Chinese publishers.

"Though laws allow publication of books in the public domain in principle, the actual situation is more complicated and publishers at home still need to get themselves more familiar with laws," Xu suggested.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Academy of Social Science Press has opted to apply to a higher level industrial and commercial organization for an administrative review before seeking administrative litigation.

(China Daily September 18, 2003)