Plagiarism dispute hits top photography body

The Chinese Photographers' Association, the semi-official body that leads the industry on the mainland, has come under fire for its handling of a plagiarism scandal linked to the country's top photo prize.

In July last year, the association gave the 2009 Golden Mendel Award, the highest award for photographers on the mainland, to a Jilin man who has since admitted that some of his photos were 'co-taken'.

The scandal is a reminder of recent rampant plagiarism in the photo industry and the association has since withdrawn the award. But it is resisting calls for it to admit its mistake.

Instead, it released an official document complaining that some people - including a number of journalists - were attacking the Communist Party's literature and arts policies and trying to pin the scandal on the association.

Shi Baoxiu, deputy head of the provincial photographers' association in Shaanxi province, said on Thursday that she had quit both associations to express her disappointment with the national association's statement.

Shi said on her blog that she had decided to quit because she could not accept the association's attempt to dodge responsibility and shift the blame to the media.

Three weeks ago, a report on the internet disclosed that four of the 10 pictures that won the Golden Mendel Award for Sang Yuzhu , vice-president of the Jilin Artists' Association photography association, had been stolen from other photographers.