signature indicating the identity of the creator, and below the watermark, there was a photographer's signature and other brand names, indicating that the copyright of the images involved belonged to the author rather than Xmei Image Company or G* Company. Xlu Apiculture Company also inquired of G* Company about the ownership of the images involved by email, and received a reply that the images involved were submitted for publication by the photographer, and G* Company paid royalties to the photographer after selling such images in its own name, but the photographer retained the copyright of such images. Based on this, Xlu Apiculture Company believed that as the contributor retained the copyright, neither G* Company nor Xmei Image Company enjoyed the copyright of the images involved, and the claims of Xmei Image Company should be rejected. Decision On September 17, 2019, the Tianjin Third Intermediate People's Court made the civil judgment ([2019] Jin 03 Zhi Min Chu No.73), deciding that Xlu Apiculture Company shall compensate Xmei Image Company for its economic losses and reasonable expenses totaling CNY8,000; other claims of Xmei Image Company shall be rejected. Xlu Apiculture Company refused to accept the judgment of first instance and filed an appeal. On July 16, 2020, the Tianjin High People's Court made the civil judgment ([2020] Jin Min Zhong No.311), rejecting the appeal, and upholding the original judgment. Xlu Apiculture Company refused to accept the judgment of second instance and applied to the Supreme People's Court for a retrial. The Supreme People's Court ruled to try the case, and made the civil judgment ([2021] Zui Gao Fa Min Zai No.355) on December 20, 2021, revoking the judgments of first instance and second instance, and rejecting all the claims of Xmei Image Company. Reasons for the Decision The Supreme People's Court held that in addition to the watermark of "getty Images", the images involved were marked with the photographer's signature and other brand names, and "getty Images" was followed by the trademark registration mark ""; therefore, the copyright of the images involved cannot be 2