Aiming for the skies

On Nov 22, Dai Jianfeng shared an update on his WeChat Moments: after two arduous years, he had secured a long-awaited victory in his lawsuit against Visual China. The A-share listed company known for its vast library of stock images was found guilty of copyright infringement. The court ordered it to pay Dai 15,000 yuan ($2,100) and issue a public apology on its website.

The case revolved around a photograph titled "Village Under the Milky Way", which was uploaded and sold on Visual China's platform by a third party without Dai's consent.

For many, this might have seemed like just another piece of news, a fleeting moment in the endless scroll of social media feeds. But for the 37-year-old professional astrophotographer from Chongqing, it was the culmination of over 700 days spent battling a corporate giant, a David versus Goliath struggle fought alongside his passion for capturing the cosmos.

"They offered me more money during pretrial mediation, wanting to settle the case quietly," Dai told China Daily. "But I refused because I wasn't the only victim. Some of my friends also had their work infringed upon."

The court's decision was a symbolic victory for independent creators like Dai, revealing the challenges professional photographers face in surviving solely on image sales in China. "It's actually a mission impossible," Dai said.