Chinese Court Says Nike Pirated Cartoon Figure

BEIJING —  Infamous for its citizens’ pirating of such diverse products as watches, software -- and Nike Inc. shoes -- China doesn’t usually level copycat charges.

But a Beijing court has ordered Nike to pay damages to a Chinese cartoonist who said his stick figure was copied in the footwear giant’s ads, a Nike lawyer said Thursday.

The court said the stickman character that 28-year-old Zhu Zhiqiang created was nearly the same as the one used in Nike advertisements, and ordered the company to pay $36,000.

Although the damages are just a small fraction of the $242,000 he requested, Zhu appeared satisfied.

“I got what I wanted: confirmation on my copyright over my stickman,” Zhu told the China Daily newspaper.

Nike representative Zhang Zaiping said he would appeal the decision and argued that the figure was too generic to deserve a copyright.

“It’s totally unfair,” he said.

“You can see this black stickman everywhere, even in the toilets.”

The court case was the latest run-in in China for the world’s biggest athletic shoe company.

This month, China stopped broadcasts of Nike ads featuring basketball star LeBron James going head to head against a series of animated opponents, including a white-haired kung fu master, saying they violated national dignity.

Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike later apologized for the ad.

Although it is a nation where pirated DVDs of the latest Hollywood blockbusters can be bought for less than a dollar on street corners, China has promised to get tougher on intellectual property piracy.