Court Rules Using Uncooperated Design Renderings for Construction Infringes Copyright of Fine Art

WISECODE Take

Many business owners mistakenly believe that during the pre-cooperation pitch phase, design drawings provided by a vendor can be handed over to another contractor for construction as long as no contract is signed. This blind spot was shattered by a case concluded by the Cixi People's Court on August 10, 2026, where an appliance company was ordered to pay 70,000 yuan for infringing on the reproduction rights of fine art works by using a non-partner's exhibition rendering for construction. The court ruled that although these renderings, including spatial layouts and aerial views, were not engineering drawings, they possessed personalized arrangement and constituted protected works of fine art. This means businesses face litigation risks if they hand vendor A's ideas to vendor B during bidding, while companies with established proposal review processes remain unaffected. First, before receiving design proposals, parties should sign confidentiality and IP ownership agreements to clarify the handling of materials if no cooperation is reached. Second, if another contractor is hired, the contract must require them to bear full liability for any infringement.