A Beijing court ruled in favor of Taiwanese romance novelist Chiung Yao in an intellectual property infringement case, awarding damages of 5 million yuan (US$805,450) on Dec 25, according to wantchinatimes.

The novelist had filed legal action against five people involved in the production of The Palace: The Lost Daughter, a period drama TV series about court intrigue during the Qing Dynasty. Chiung said the TV series had plagiarized her 1993 novel Plum Blossom Scar. Defendants included screenwriter Yu Zheng, Hunan etv Media Culture Company, and Wanda Cinemas.

In its verdict, the Beijing court ruled that Yu must issue an apology on China's major news sites, including Sina and the news site of Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television, and pay compensation of 5 million yuan (US$805,438) to Chiung.

"My eyes are welling with tears, I just want to proclaim that a major step has been taken toward upholding justice and intellectual property rights," said Chiung on the Weibo fan page of Flowers in Fog, another TV series based on her writing.

Several renowned Chinese screenwriters, including Wang Hailin and Zhao Dongling, have welcomed the ruling by the Third Intermediate People's Court of Beijing.

Zhao said on his Weibo page that the decision represents a great leap forward in China's court rulings on matters of intellectual property rights.

Citing a lack of compelling evidence, Yu's studio issued a statement, saying that it intends to appeal the court's decision.