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Jimmy Lin sued USD 162,000 for illegal use of photo


21 Feb - Taiwanese singer-actor Jimmy Lin has been ordered to pay NTD 5 million (approx. USD 162,000) to one Zhu Qing-fu, a photographer whose photo he illegally altered for online use.

As reported on TVBS News, the 42-year-old was sued by Zhu four years ago, after he took an original photograph entitled "Chinese Men" owned by Zhu, modified a portrait of one the men in the photo and added his own face to it, and shared it online to celebrate his Weibo account hitting of 2.1 million followers.

Zhu, who was offended by Jimmy's misuse of his work, sued the actor for copyright infringement as well as the infringements of the rights of alterations and authorship.

In addition to the NTD 5 million fine, the actor was also ordered to publicly apologised for his wrongdoing.

In his online apology, Jimmy stated that he was attracted by the said photo and decided to share it with his fans without realising what he did was wrong.

He also took the opportunity to remind fans not to make the same mistake, and promised to pay the fine as ordered.