A restaurant in Xiamen, China is in hot water following a lawsuit by Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou.

According to Chinese media outlets, J Hero Chinese Cuisine, is popular among fans of the 41-year-old singer-songwriter, many of whom believe it is owned by him.

After all, the restaurant is a treasure trove of Jay Chou memorabilia, including pictures of him on the menu, wall decals and a standee.

However, the restaurant had allegedly not obtained the singer's permission to use his name and image. In January 2019, it was issued a letter from an attorney representing Chou, informing them of the copyright infringement.

J Hero made the rectifications and Chou's legal representatives contacted it in April that year to thank them.

However, in December, the restaurant was sued by Chou's legal team. It was ordered to cease and desist, apologise to the singer and pay 500,000 (S$98,900) yuan as reparations.

The case is still ongoing.

In a statement released on Weibo on Wednesday (Aug 19), J Hero maintained that it had obtained the rights to use Chou's images.

It shared a video of the singer attending the opening ceremony of the restaurant's first outlet in 2010, an authorisation certificate from his studio, as well as another video of him congratulating the opening of another outlet in 2017.