Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court upheld the ruling of a district court that had ordered a company to pay a Hong Kong television star 250,000 yuan ($40,339) for illegally using her image in its cosmetics advertising.
The intermediate court ruled against the two companies, an unnamed cosmetics company and its distributor, because they could not support their claim that they acted within in the law, according to a court press release.
The cosmetics company signed a one-year contract with the renowned TV actress Angie Chiu in December 2010 to use her image to promote one of its products.
Chiu, 58, was most famous for her roles in TV series such as The Bund in 1980 and The Legend of Madame White Snake in 1992.
However, the cosmetics company's distributor for that brand continued to use Chiu's image and signature on its website after the contract expired, claiming that Chiu was still the brand's representative.
The distributor was last found using Chiu's image on May 4, 2012, according to evidence provided by Chiu's attorney.
Chiu sued both companies, demanding an apology and 1 million yuan in compensation.
In the initial case, Pudong New Area People's Court ruled that the cosmetics company violated Chiu's name and image rights because it failed to instruct the distributor to stop using Chiu's image when the contract expired.
The court ordered the cosmetics company to pay the awarded compensation, though it added that distributor would be obligated to pay if the cosmetics company could not come up with all of the money, said Pan Jingbo, the press officer for Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court.
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