A short excerpt from from today's long opinion by Judge John Tigar (N.D. Cal.) in Stanford Univ. v. Yuzhen; I am an employee of Hoover and Stanford, but I haven't been involved in the lawsuit, and wasn't prompted by anyone to write bout it:
Plaintiff Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University seeks to quiet title in certain materials denominated the Li Materials, which consist of original materials written by Chinese political figure Li Rui [and by people connected to him] …. Stanford and Li's daughter, Li Nanyang, contend that: (1) during his lifetime, Li Rui gave the Li Materials to Li Nanyang and instructed her to make a permanent gift of the Li Materials to Stanford, to be preserved by and made freely available for scholarly research and public review at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives at Stanford University ("Hoover"); and (2) in accordance with Li Rui's instructions, the original Li Materials were donated to and delivered to Hoover by Li Nanyang prior to Li Rui's death.
Defendant and Counterclaimant Zhang Yuzhen, who was Li Rui's second wife, contends that Li Rui did not transfer ownership of his original manuscripts to Li Nanyang, and that Li Nanyang did not have the legal right to donate any of Li Rui's original materials to Hoover prior to Li Rui's death. Zhang Yuzhen further contends that pursuant to the Chinese court's judgment in a proceeding called the Zhang Action, she is the sole owner of the original manuscripts contained in the Li Materials, and that this Court should recognize and enforce the Chinese judgment and order Stanford to return to Zhang Yuzhen the original manuscripts that were improperly transferred to Stanford by Li Nanyang….
Li Rui held various government positions in the People's Republic of China during the 1950s. He became Chairman Mao's personal secretary in 1958, placing him at the center of political activity in China.
Li Rui was a person of strong opinions who spoke out against the CCP during his lifetime and who "ha[d] a lot of guts." In 1959, Li Rui attended a leadership meeting of the CCP called the Lushan Conference. At the conference, Li made comments critical of Mao Zedong and the CCP. Because of these criticisms, Li Rui was exiled and transferred between jail and work camps for approximately 20 years….
