(By Luo Yanjie)

Case summary:

Yigal Messika is an Israeli magician. In March 2008, Messika began to design a tool used in his magic show named Tarantula, through the operation of which the audience could see floating art objects. Messika filmed a DVD recording his performance with the Tarantula. The Tarantula DVD went on sale in the United States on February 29, 2000, accompanied by the Tarantula gimmick. Each pair was sold for $ 75. Later on, Messika heard that his product was being ripped off by a Chinese businessman starting in April 2009. The copyright holder subsequently filed a lawsuit in court to protect the copyright infringed. The Court held that, because China, the US and Israel are all signatories to the Berne Convention, once the plaintiff’s magic met the standards in China’s Copyright Law, it could be protected by China’s laws.