The production team behind the historical movie "Shadow" directed by Chinese director Zhang Yimou is currently facing a lawsuit as a music college teacher and her team accused the team of music theft.
Dong Yingda, a composer and teacher of the Central Conservatory of Music, assisted in the composition and performance of the film's music score and most of her team were her student. in her Weibo account, she said that Zhang Yimou had commissioned her in February 2017 to create the score.
In order to fulfill the comission, she assembled a team consisting of notable musicians, performers and ancient Chinese music experts, as well as her best music students to create the music for the film. They finished their work at the end of October 2018 and signed contract with the producers.
However, she said that Dong Yingda told her that they could not be credited in the final cut of the film because the studio hired musician Wu Liqun to create the music score. Dong also said part of their music was used in promotional materials, and even as an alternative version in the final cut of the film. The composer and her team became very angry after watching the film, which debuted in China on Sept 30.
"We are stunned that the whole film's music, from melody, harmony to style and use of instruments, is extremely similar, and even exactly the same as our version. They just changed performers to play based on our music, so, how can they claim they are original? This is a big joke!" Dong angrily pointed out.
Dong and her team tried to communicate with Le Chuang Entertainment to clarify the issue, but it did not produce any results and they remained uncredited in the film. As a result, she filed a lawsuit against the studio, seeking the deserved credit, damages and compensation.
"Our collective voice is due to the fact the film industry doesn't care too much about the originality of music and has no sense of intellectual property protection. We hope our lawsuit and efforts can help more Chinese musicians to gain more interests and protection," Dong said.
On Sunday, Le Chuang Entertainment released a statement stating it had separated with Dong and her team because of creative differences. However, they mentioned that they credited Dong's team as the "early phase" composers for the film which Dong said she had not noticed. Dong is also credited in promotional materials and in the documentary for the film.
Le Chuang said it understood and respected the demands of Dong regarding intellectual property rights, and would cooperate in any investigation that would be launched.
