Tag Archives: case commentary on copyright infringement

Does Story Plot Plagiarism Constitute Copyright Infringement in China?

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(By You Yunting) Introduction to the Case:

In the first half of 2014, Palace 3: the Lost Daughter is a 2014 Chinese historical television series written and produced by Yu Zheng. In April 2014, a Taiwanese writer Chiung Yao made a letter claimed that Palace 3: the Lost Daughter (the “disputed show) was based on her novel Plum Blossom Scar (the “reference novel”), but Yu Zheng delayed. On May 28, 2014, Chiung Yao filed a lawsuit, claiming that Yu Zheng was unauthorized to copy her original core plot, recompose the disputed drama and produce and broadcast the disputed show with another 4 defendants. Chiung Yao thought that Yu Zheng had seriously violated her right of adaptation and cinematization, causing great mental damage, and requested Yu Zheng to immediate stop infringement, eliminate influences, make an apology and compensation of RMB 20 million for economic loss.

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Could Jewelry Design be Protected by the China’s Copyright Law?

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(By Luo Yanjie) It is common in China that a jewelry of the same design would be manufactured and sold by different jewelry shops in the industry of China’s jewelry. With regard to the initial source of the jewelry design, a lot jewelry companies and even consumers are not concerned whoever firstly designs the jewelry. In reality, a well-designed jewelry that took designers a great intelligence shall be protected by the Copyright Law. In today’s post, we will introduce a case where a jewelry design is succeed to be protected by the Copyright Law, sharing with readers.

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Why Did NCA Officials Attend Sohu.com’s Press Conference against Toutiao.com?

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(By You Yunting) Recently, Sohu vs Toutiao has attracted attention from the media. Sohu sued Toutiao for copyright infringement and unfair competition, whilst Toutiao filed lawsuits against Sohu for defamation. It is quite normal for two enterprises in competition to take legal proceedings against each other. However, what really surprised us was, in their dispute, that governmental officials attended Sohu’s press conference, in favor of Sohu. In today’s post, we will discuss the reason for theimproper governmental interference. Comments and suggestions are most welcome.

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Why UniStrong’s Navigation Found Guility of Copyright Infringement against Microsoft？

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(By Luo Yanjie)Our previous post How does Microsoft Settle Its Problems of Software Copyright Infringement in China introduced the difficulties of protecting its rights and interests in China. However, in today’s post, the court decided the trade practices constituted copyright infringement and ruled in favor of Microsoft, thus boosting confidence for all software owners.

Introduction to the Case:

Appellant (defendant at first instance): Beijing UniStrong Science & Technology Co., Ltd (“UniStrong”)

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Why China Court Decision Requires Software Interface Primary Aesthetics under Protection?

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(By Luo Yanjie) Pursuant to the Copyright Law, the works shall be original with primary aesthetics. From this point, most software interface can’t receive protection from the Copyright law, because most software interfaces are designated in a simple arrangement for the purpose of easy-to-use and thus are likely to be considered as lack of “distinctiveness”. The judgment in the following case set forth the theory.

Introduction to the Case:

Appellant (defendant at first instance): Shenzhen Tenda Technology Co., Ltd (the “Tenda”)

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Symantec Corporation Uses both Criminal and Civil Methods to Defeat Piracy in China

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    (By You Yunting) It is well known that China is facing a serious problem over piracy. When claiming for his enforcement over cases suspected to involve criminal offences, the right holders often report to the Police attempting the use of criminal laws to strike with piracy. Furthermore, in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations, upon the completion of criminal proceeding, the party against the piracy may, on the basis of criminal judgment paper, file civil lawsuits against the pirated to receive compensation. Today we will introduce a case concerning Symantec Corporation’s enforcement against the pirated party, where Symantec Corporation instituted lawsuits against the pirated, as well as the companies which contributed to make pirated CDs and print the envelopes of the pirated software. As such, its lawsuits and claims are being backed by Shanghai courts.

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Linking Copyrighted Movies Constituted Non-infringement

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(By Luo Yanjie) Recently, our team represented a client who developed an App offering a linking service, in an infringement case over the linking of a copyrighted video on the mobile internet. The court made a final judgment in favor of our client, on the grounds that the safe harbor principle applied in this case. In today’s post, we will introduce this case below.

Introduction to the Case:

Plaintiff: China Film Media Asia Audio Video Distribution Co. Ltd (the “China Film Media Co. Ltd”)

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Why Wasn’t Baidu Library Protected Under Safe Harbor Principle?

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(By Luo Yanjie) In our previous post Baidu Library Ordered to Pay Huge Huge Compensation on for Copyright Infringement, we discussed the amount of the compensation in the case of Beijing China Youth Book Inc. vs Baidu Library. Yesterday, we found out the reasoning and judgment held by Beijing No.1 Intermediate People’s Court. Thus, in today’s post we will analyze the legal basis about this case from the perspective of the judgment.

Introduction to the Case:

Plaintiff: Beijing China Youth Book Inc. (the “Youth Book Inc.”)

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Questions and Solutions to Enforcement of Rights Protection by Overseas Software Enterprise in China

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(By Luo Yanjie) Abstract:In the litigation of software infringement, the most fundamental evidence is that which is used to prove that the infringed software used by the defendant is plaintiff’s. It is urgent that China strengthens its punishment of infringement so as to protect commercial order and stability.

Rhino Software Inc. (hereinafter the “RhinoSoft”) developed “Serv-U”, a widely adopted FTP server software. In recent years, RhinoSoft have been trying to enforce its rights against the unauthorized use of Serv-U in China. Our previous post Analysis on the Assumption of Liability in the Serv-U Infringement Lawsuit in China has already introduced some of our analysis on this issue. In today’s post, we will be doing a complete analysis of the problems and potential solutions of RhinoSoft’s enforcement of rights in the proceeding litigation from a practical perspective.

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Why Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court Decided the Contractual Terms not Protect by the Copyright Law?

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(By Luo Yanjie) Abstract: The Implementing Regulations of the Copyright law stipulates “works” under the protection of the Copyright Law shall be under originality. “Originality” can be divided into two parts: independent creation and the minimum intellectual creation.

An enterprise filed a suit to the courts, alleging the defendant copied its contractual terms. One would wonder whether the terms of a contract shall be protected by the Copyright Law. The Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court provided an answer that the terms in a contract may not be protected by the Copyright Law owing to the expression limitation of a contract. Here are the introduction to this case and our opinions for the following.

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What is the Weakness of Getty Images China’s Protection Litigation against Photo Infringement?

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(By You Yunting) Recently, Getty Images China brought cases regarding copyright infringement arose from Weibo to courts. These companies sued by Getty Images China almost take a similar pattern like that: first these companies have outsourced its right of operation for their Weibo to ads enterprises, then on its Weibo ads enterprises published photos that Getty Images China owned in their thought, and finally these companies were sued by Getty Images China. Some customers asked us how to face such litigation. We will share our analysis on this question and introduce a case which Getty Images China lost its litigation in the Supreme People’s Court.

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