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A recent ruling in relation to copyright infringement of a popular novel clarifies how to define the liability of an online platform operator when it cannot provide verified identity information of its users who actually have uploaded protected works without authorisation. Copyright Infringement in China is a very popular issue.
According to the Chinese Civil Code, the role of online platform operators is classified as intermediary service providers and content providers. As for those service providers who fail to verify the identity of their users when those users are legally recognised as content providers and are involved in infringement matters, the mainstream is that online service providers should be regulated as secondary liabilities rather than primary liabilities.
The famous novel involved is «The Three-Body Problem» produced by Liu Cixin in 2008, and its television series is also expected on Netflix in 2023. As reported, the author has assigned exclusive audio rights to this book to Tencent for a certain period. In accordance with the effective assignment, Tencent alongside Liu Cixin filed a copyright infringement against the unauthorized uploading of its audiobooks to the court and claimed damage compensation and legal costs. The Court of First Instance held that the defendant serviced as an online platform should be held directly responsible for illegal audiobooks uploaded without permission since they cannot identify the real ID of their online users who they claimed as actual uploaders and therefore, the defendant should be excluded from the principle of a safe harbour’ and assumed the primary liability as content providers. However, The Higher Court reversed the decision and decided that the liability of the defendant is indirect considering the whole facts as follows:
- the business model of online platform operators which is publicised on its website;
- the Terms of Services between online platform operators and their users;
- the relevant information labelled on illegal content which helps to identify who is the actual content provider;
- If online platform operators are able to provide ID information of their users;
Therefore, there are a few factors to be accountable for the primary or secondary liability of online platform operators. If you have relevant businesses operating in China, we are here to help advise on legal compliance matters. We have covered copyright infringement in China a number of times on Lawdit and it’s worth looking into our other posts. You can see them at the bottom of this post.
Copyright Infringement in China
Want to learn more about copyright infringement in China? Please take a look at some of the related posts below and browse them:
- Liability of online platform operators failing to identity their users in copyright infringement in China
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- The first NFT copyright case in China
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Here are some of the references for this article. We include references in some of our content to help viewers understand our judgement and reason for writing about certain topics. Please see them below here:
References for Copyright Infringement in China
- China (Wikipedia.ORG)
- Chinese Civil Code (NPC.GOV.CN)
- Liu Cixin (Wikipedia.ORG)
- Netflix (Netflix.COM)
- Tencent (Tencent.COM)
- The Court of First Instance (OxfordReference.COM)
- The Higher Court (Judiciary.UK)
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