No Infringement of SONY TV’s Unauthorized Cartoon Playing

By Luo Yanjie

In our past post “How Sony Can Avoid Copyright Risk”, we gave our legal opinion in the copyright infringement charged against SONY. And in that case, SONY integrated the function of networking in a type of its TV products, by which the consumer could watch the cartoon produced by an animation company after registering its TV and the application for an account on an appointed websites under the instruction of SONY. The animation company sued SONY and the website in Beijing after detaining the infringement.

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Suggestions from Chinese Writer on the Modification on Copyright Law

The modification on China Copyright Law is under preparation, and as news reports, for the promote of internet prosperity and infringement combat, Ms. Zhang Kangkang, the vice president of Chinese Writers Association and China Literary Copyright Protection Association suggested on the law modification recently:

I. To legally determine the fault ascertainment standard of Safe Harbor Rule

Ms. Zhang suggested to drafted the standard of “known or shall be known” as the legal standard of the ISP fault ascertainment, meanwhile, the obligation of ISP shall also be listed in the modified law while no too high obligation shall be set.

Bridge IP Law Commentary’s opinion: There’s no legal standard on the ascertainment of ISP fault in Copyright Law, with the standard is referred to partly in the Article 36 of Infringement liability law, “Where no measures have been taken by IPS on knowing the infringement or violation by users against others, the ISP shall take the joint liability with the infringer.”

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How Sony Can Avoid Copyright Risk?

Highlights: The article analyzes the case that SONY sued for the infringing content of internet Video-On-Demand service integrated in TV set and the provisions of port principles in China Copyright Law.

It is reported that SONY (TYO: 6758, NYSE: SNE), along with a VOD website, was sued by a Chinese cartoon company (the “copyright owner”), and Beijing Dongcheng District People’s Court has accepted the suit.

As news­ reports, the copyright owner claimed that SONY integrated the internet unicast service software in certain type of its TV set. Furthermore, with SONY’s TV set instruction, the consumer could watch the content of infringing program after registering the serial number of TV online and an account with a website in sequence.

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