The owner of the popular nightclub The World of Suzie Wong has been ordered to pay 35,000 yuan in compensation to a sculptor after using the image of a fake artwork in an advertisement.

The nightclub will also be forced to publicly apologize to artist Li Xiangqun, a sculptor and professor at the Academy of Art and Design of Tsinghua University.

At the center of the case is Li's sculpture of the half-naked empress Ci Xi of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), which was exhibited at the Third Beijing International Art Biennial on July 8, 2008.

Li made five identical sculptures and sold three for about 5 million yuan each to an overseas art research institute and a museum.

Li told METRO yesterday that he was satisfied with the outcome.

"I don't care about the compensation. I just hope the public can realize the importance of copyright protection," he said. 
                                                                                                      Source: China Daily