Junwu Zhou

Practice Areas

Mr. Zhou began his legal career in 1994, primarily focusing on intellectual property, entertainment and media, anti-unfair competition, e-commerce, and other fields, with nearly 30 years of experience. Mr. Zhou's expertise lies in specific areas such as artist agency, film and television, live streaming and short videos, music records, games, novels and comics, dance and ballet, musicals, advertising, education and publishing, sports events, internet new media, large-scale live performances, and others, covering almost all aspects of the domestic and international cultural and entertainment industry chains.

Work Highlights

·Handled the copyright infringement dispute involving the “Thousand-hand Bodhisattva (Guanyin) Dance,” representing Zhang Jigang (achieving favorable rulings)

·Handled a copyright infringement dispute, representing Perfect World against the online writer “匪我思存”

·Handled a copyright infringement dispute involving the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and Bosen Century (which represented the first GMAT infringement dispute in China)

·Handled an information network communication rights dispute, representing Birdman Company (which represented the first infringement dispute involving music ring tones in China)

·Represented H. Brothers in unfair competition disputes over the films “If You Are the One” and “The Message” (achieving favorable rulings)

·The introduction of the Chinese versions of the Broadway classic musical “Mama Mia” and the British classic stage drama “Horse”

·The film “The Grandmaster,” invested in and filmed by Jet Tone Film Production and Wong Kar-wai

·Multiple game companies’ financing and other legal affairs relating VIE structure

·A reputation infringement dispute involving the film “Goodbye Mr. Loser”

·Represented Honda Corporation in a significant case of trademark infringement (attracting the attention of both the Japanese and the Chinese Ministries of Foreign Affairs) and administrative litigation regarding the “Chenghuang” trademark dispute

Professional Memberships

·Member of the Central Economic Committee of the Jiusan Society

·Member of the Intellectual Property Committee of the All China Lawyers Association

·People's Supervisor of the Beijing Municipal Procuratorate

·Arbitrator of the 8th Term of the Beijing Arbitration Commission and Beijing International Arbitration Center

·Arbitrator of the Qingdao Arbitration Commission

·Arbitrator of the Changsha Arbitration Commission

·Expert of the Expert Advisory Committee of the Changsha Arbitration Commission

·Senior Researcher at the Arbitration Research Institute of the Xi'an Arbitration Commission

·Evaluator of the Xi'an Arbitration Commission

·Chair of the 11th Term Media and Entertainment Law Professional Committee of the Beijing Lawyers Association

·Standing Director of the Beijing Entertainment Law Society

·People's Supervisor of the Beijing Procuratorate

·External Tutor for the Master of Law Program at Beijing Institute of Technology

Publications

·Social media: WeChat Account Master Zhou: the Entertainment Observer (Active for 9 years, with an enormous following, over 580 articles published)

·Chief Editor, "Master Zhou: the Entertainment Observer": Chronicles of Entertainment Law, Law Press China, May 2024

·Chief Editor, "Master Zhou: the Entertainment Observer": Navigating Entertainment Law, Law Press China, September 2020

·Chief Editor, "Master Zhou: the Entertainment Observer": The Jungle of Entertainment Law, Law Press China, July 2018

·Author of When Stars Meet the Law, People's Publishing House, February 2016

·Author of Star Road: The Legal Way of Walking in the Entertainment Industry, Law Publishing House, June 2008

·Trademark Law Protection of Religious Symbols: Starting from the “城隍” Trademark Revocation Case, in China Taoism, No. 1, 2015.

·Analysis of the Legal Nature and Related Issues of Artist Agency Contracts, Record Contracts, and Music Composition Contracts, published in the Proceedings of the 2009 Annual Conference of the Intellectual Property Law Committee of the All-China Lawyers Association and the High-Level Forum on Intellectual Property Rights for Chinese Lawyers (Volume I)

Personal

In the field of entertainment and media, Mr. Zhou has a deep understanding of the cultural, film, and media industries. He provides specialized long-term legal advisory services, dispute resolution, and special non-litigious services to various companies in the cultural and media sectors, artists' studios, relevant government departments, and industry organizations. His services include legal consultations, participation in commercial negotiations, issuing legal opinions, conducting legal seminars, and representing clients in litigation and arbitration cases. Mr. Zhou also provides comprehensive legal services to numerous singers, actors, directors, screenwriters, and other artists. His professional capabilities and extensive experience in cultural, film, and media law have earned him an excellent reputation among many clients.

In the field of intellectual property, many of the copyright and trademark infringement lawsuits handled by Mr. Zhou have resulted in favorable judgments or settlements, thanks to his deep knowledge of China's Copyright Law, Trademark Law, and Anti-Unfair Competition Law, as well as his accumulated experience in handling litigation cases.

Mr. Zhou and his team serve as long-term legal advisors to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China. He has been invited multiple times to participate in the drafting and argumentation of policies, administrative regulations, and judicial interpretations related to the cultural and entertainment industries. This has given him accurate insights into the policy and legal trends in the development of the cultural and entertainment industries, enabling him to provide forward-looking legal advice to clients.

Languages Spoken

Mandarin English

Education

Awards

Industry Sector Expertise

ARBITRATION ,TMT (TECHNOLOGY, MEDIA AND TELECOM) ,INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ,CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL LITIGATION