The song writers and composer of The Same Song have filed a suit in a Beijing court against CCTV for copyright violation.
Meng Xin, producer of The Same Song
According to the song's writers Chen Ze and Ying Jie and composer Meng Weidong, CCTV named one of its music programs after their song without any agreement between the two parties.
The program has been running for over four years with great commercial success.
The Same Song was written in 1990. Sung by Mao Amin, a prominent pop singer in China, the song soon became a household tune in China.
Since it was first aired, the CCTV program The Same Song has become extremely popular. According to its producers, it has become CCTV's most watched music program.
CCTV's The Same Song program features famous singers from China and overseas, new songs as well as nostalgic ones.
The program also includes interviews with big names from politics, finance, entertainment and sport.
According to the lawyers of Chen, Ying and Meng, CCTV has infringed the song authors' rights by not getting their agreement before naming the program after the song. It was also unfair for the authors who had not received anything in return, even though the program had made huge profits from its nearly 100 shows across the country, they said.
The lawyers disclosed that they wrote to CCTV last year on the issue. But after a fruitless meeting with lawyers on CCTV's behalf, there were no follow-ups.
(Shenzhen Daily November 17, 2004)
