Joseph Li

Lawyer Joseph Li mainly practices in the fields of IPR and commercial dispute resolution, and provided legal consultancy in the entertainment industry. With an accurate and forward-looking understanding of the business needs of clients, he assists them in holistic commercial and legal planning to effectively balance risk control and business opportunities.

Lawyer Joseph Li has provided sustained, comprehensive legal advice for dozens of first-class institutions and front-line artists, including the Beijing People’s Art Theatre (BPAT), Tencent, Alibaba Culture and Entertainment, Mango TV, Le TV, Huayi Brothers Cinema, Huanrui Century Co., Ltd. and Hunan TV & Broadcast Intermediary Co., Ltd. He acted in dispute-settlement cases with far-reaching implications for the entertainment industry, such as the reputation dispute involving Goodbye Mr. Loser and the arbitration involving termination of contract by the artist Yang Yang, providing accurate and constructive legal advice.

Representative Matters

Projects:

• Incorporation of joint-venture company by Huayi Brothers and Giant Network and other M&A projects
• Copyright and M&A transaction projects regarding novel The Three-body Problem
• Provided legal services for over 100 domestic and foreign film, drama and TV programs,including the joint production/distribution of films Painted Skin II, 1942 and Silent Witness,copyright introduction of drama Grief of Comedies by Beijing People’s Art Theatre, import of film Now You See Me,and joint development of variety show 1.3 Billion DB
• The China tour of installation Rubber Duck and other copyright development and enforcement projects
• Provided legal counseling to dozens of artists on their endorsement and protection of rights to reputation,likeness and privacy

Dispute Resolution:

• Represented artist Yang Yang in an arbitration over rescission of talent agency contract with Beijing Rosat Film & TV Production Co.,Ltd. and other rescission disputes
• Represented CFGC, Lu Chuan, etc. in a dispute concerning right of integrity infringement involving film Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe against Zhang Muye
• Represented H&R Century in a copyright dispute regarding film Fall in Love Like a Star against screenwriter Cai Xin
• Represented Starry Entertainment, etc. in a copyright dispute involving film Hello Mr. Billionaire against screenwriter Wang Qian
• Represented Fun Age Pictures, etc. in a reputation infringement dispute involving filmGoodbye Mr. Loser against Yang Wen
• Represented artist Yang Yang in a reputation infringement dispute against“@gunianshi”
• Represented artist Wen Zhang in a likeness infringement dispute against a company
• Represented Zhejiang Xinxian Film Distribution Co., Ltd. in the retrial before the Supreme People’s Court of the contractual disput against Beijing Dongchun Films Co.,Ltd.
• Represented screenwriter, director and actor Chen Sicheng, etc. in a teleplay contract and infringement dispute involving Beijing Love Story against Li Yaling
• Represented Beijing Forbidden City Film Co.,Ltd.,etc. in a contractual dispute regarding co-production of film A Chinese Ghost Story against Beijing Taiji Century Culture Co.,Ltd.
• Represented Xu Lei (pseudonym: Nanpai Sanshu) in a film/TV adaptation license contract dispute involving novel Tomb Raider Notes against Shanghai Chengzong Culture Co.,Ltd.

Qualifications and Activities

• Personal member of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI);
• Member of the Beijing Intellectual Property Law Association;
• Guest lecturer in entertainment law, Communication University of China;
• Guest lecturer in entertainment law, Macau University of Science and Technology;
• Master’s supervisor in law, Yan’an University;
• Copyright expert, Intellectual Property Committee, China Chamber of International Commerce;
• Delegate to the Fourth Congress of the Chaoyang District Lawyers’ Association, Beijing.

Publications

• “The Voice of China” and IPR Protection for Localization of Overseas Programs, China Intellectual Property Reports, 2016;
• The ‘Public Figure’ in Reputation Rights Disputes: Theory and Debate;
• Does Streamers With Goods Must be an Advertising Endorsement?