Typical Cases
【Case Briefing】
The plaintiff, Beijing Ciwen Film & TV Production Co., Ltd., and two other companies finished the production of the film works “Seven Swords” in May 2005. The plaintiff managed to gain the film’s copyright, the beneficial interest and the right to defend itself against the infringement inside
【Result of Trial】
It was decided by the New Pudong District Court that the two defendants have infringed the dissemination right and reproduction right by unauthorized online playing and downloading film work to which such rights were owned by the plaintiff. The two defendants shall be held jointly liable for infringement since they conducted the complicity and agreed on a ratio by which to distribute the return. On the consideration of the nature and time of infringement and by reference to the royalties for which the plaintiff authorized others to use its works, the court thus decided that the two defendants stop infringement, make public apologies on the website and pay up an economic compensation of RMB 200,000.
【Case Analysis】
It is confirmed by this trial that both the website operator and information up-loader will be held guilty for joint infringement. It put alert to the protection of copyright under the internet circumstances. A bunch of media covered the judgment which aroused extensive social attentions.
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