China's "Cloud Gate" And Copyright Protection

A sculpture in Karamy, Xinjiang, China has recently caught a lot of media attention because of its striking resemblance with a famous bean-shaped sculpture in Chicago, known as "Cloud Gate" (or colloquially as "the Bean"). The Cloud Gate has been a major feature of Chicago's landscape since its installation in 2006. While the Cloud Gate is shaped like a bean, the Chinese installation is supposed to resemble an oil bubble. Both sculptures have a mirror-like surface and passages that lead to the under-belly of each sculpture. When Anish Kapoor, the sculptor of the Cloud Gate, learned about the sculpture in China, he said: "It seems that in China today it is permissible to steal the creativity of others, I feel I must take this to the highest level and pursue those responsible in the courts." This statement begs the question of the extent to which copyright protection is afforded to foreign creative works in China.