A court in Shaanxi province ordered cartoon producer Xi'an Momo Information Technology to pay 100,000 yuan ($14,500) as mental injury compensation on Friday after one of its online videos harmed the reputation of late Communist general Ye Ting.
The Yanta District People's Court, in the provincial capital Xi'an, also ordered the company to make a public apology through the news media.
On May 8, the company released a short video on Rage Comic, an online cartoon series, in which it changed a line in a poem written by Ye while he was imprisoned by the Kuomintang that read "for freedom" to "for painless abortion" — making it similar to a medical advertisement.
The video triggered a public outcry when it spread online between May 8 and 16, the court said.
The general's family members and close relatives sued Rage Comic in late May, saying the lawsuit was not only for Ye, but also for all martyrs and their successors.
"The company's behavior has damaged Ye's reputation," the court said in its judgment. "It brought mental distress to the hero's family, affected people's sentiments toward history and also harmed the public interest."
The court said the company had breached the nation's Law on Protection of Heroes and Martyrs, which was approved on May 1, and should be punished.
Under the law, activities that defame heroes and martyrs or distort and diminish their deeds are banned. Television and radio programs, videos, movies, publishers and the internet must not harm their rights to a good name, image and reputation, and their honor.
