China: The First Internet-related Case of Copyright Infringement in People’s Republic of China (PRC).
| Autor | Li Dongtao |
| Cargo | Leading judge of the case |
This is the first Internet-related case of copyright infringement in People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The Plaintiff is Chen Weihua, manager of a computer company.
The Defendant is the Chengdu Computer Business Information.
"Talking about 3D" is the name of a personal homepage online and the webmaster is mentioned as "Wu Fang".
From January 1998, files have been uploaded onto this personal homepage, mainly articles on 3D.
On May 10, 1998, an article entitled ‘Talking about MAYA Dramatically’ (Work) was uploaded onto this personal homepage, the author was also mentioned as "Wu Fang".
On October 16, 1998, the Defendant published this article in its newspaper, Computer Business Information; the author was "Wu Fang". Meanwhile, the Defendant also added an explanation in which it claimed that an anonymous reader (also a 3D fan) submitted this article for publication to its email address.
The Plaintiff claimed “Wu Fang” was his pen name and sued the Defendant for copyright infringement at the Court of Haidian District, Beijing (Court).
The Defendant argued the Plaintiff should prove he was “Wu Fang” first.
After accepting the case, the Court inspected Wu Fang’s personal homepage “Talking about 3D” with the parties concerned. During the inspection, the Plaintiff could change the password of this personal homepage, upload and delete files, and the Defendant didn’t bring evidence (including the email) to prove the existence of some special phenomenon or the Work had been published by some newspaper theretofore. Then, the Defendant accepted the fact that the Plaintiff was "Wu Fang", but argued that the copyright infringement was not established.
A copyright statement saying “Copyright Reserved” accompanied the Work online.
The registration of personal homepage is free online and there isn’t a special law on this matter.
The Plaintiff asked the Court to make a judgement in his favor by ordering the Defendant to (1). Apologize publicly (2). Pay the remuneration RMB 231 yuan, (3). Pay the punitive damages of RMB 50,000 yuan.
The Court holds that the copyright infringement is established and the Defendant is the infringer because:
(1). The term “Works” means intellectual creations with originality in the literary, artistic or scientific domain, insofar as they are capable of being reproduced in a tangible form.
An intellectual creation should be fixed in a tangible medium of expression and kept stable enough to permit it to be reproduced or contacted by...
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