Guests have frequented an Audrey Hepburn-themed restaurant chain in the eastern city of Suzhou since 2014. Now, Hepburn’s son has won a lawsuit against the restaurant for its unauthorized use of his mother’s likeness.

On Friday, a Suzhou court publicly released its decision affirming a lower court ruling in favor of Luca Dotti, one of two sons of late British actress Audrey Hepburn, in a rare move by a Chinese court recognizing the personality rights of deceased celebrities and their families.

Operating under the name “Angel’s Hepburn Time Restaurant,” the business featured Hepburn’s face and name on its signage, website, and promotional materials. The court ordered the restaurant to cease use of Hepburn’s image, full name, issue a public apology, and pay 200,000 yuan ($27,600) in compensation. As of publication, the chain continues to use the actress’s name in its listings on Dazhong Dianping, a Chinese app similar to Yelp.

Dotti had initially sought 1 million yuan in damages and 118,000 yuan in legal costs, arguing that the restaurant’s actions harmed his mother’s dignity and his rights as her heir.

During the trial, the restaurant ceased using Hepburn’s portrait, but left “Hepburn” in its name. It argued that personality rights expire at death, and that Dotti lacked standing to sue. The restaurant also claimed that its use of the name was not defamatory and that the voluntary cessation of Hepburn’s image should shield it from liability.

The court disagreed, holding that a person’s name and likeness remain protected after death and that economic benefits tied to those rights may be inherited by close relatives. Long-term use of “Hepburn” on signage and branding thus constituted infringement.

The judgment underscores a broader legal principle: for well-known public figures, the commercial value of their names and images does not vanish with death. The court framed the case as a “representative case” in protecting posthumous personality rights.

The ruling drew attention on Chinese social media, where many applauded the ruling and saw it as a landmark case in strengthening rights protection. In one popular comment online, a netizen remarked, “This shop has been around for many years, and it is not cheap. An apology, plus 200,000 yuan? Hilarious.” Another wrote, “It’s too little compensation.”

Dazhong Dianping shows that at the chain’s three restaurants, meals feature a mix of local and Cantonese dishes including sweet and sour prawns, roasted squab pigeon, and various desserts, averaging 130 yuan ($18) per head.

Dotti has actively defended his late mother’s image from unauthorized commercial use elsewhere. In 2015, he and his brother sued and won against Italian textile company Caleffi, whose ad campaign deliberately evoked Hepburn’s iconic look in the 1961 film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

On Oct. 27, at a press conference for the opening of an exhibition titled “Dear Audrey Hepburn” in the nearby city of Hangzhou, Hepburn’s eldest son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer, responded to the court’s decision. “I’m delighted to hear the news of our victory,” he said. “We don’t want to stifle people’s love for Audrey Hepburn, but we do hope to be able to control the quality of all products featuring her image.”

“(The restaurant) may have taken this unconventional approach because the food was not good enough,” he went on to say.

Editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.

(Header image: Outside and inside views of “Angel’s Hepburn Time Restaurant” in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. From Weibo)