Beijing Chaoyang District Court (北京市朝阳区人民法院), Chineseall.com v. 178.com [北京中文在线v.北京智珠网络技术], (2013) Chao Min Chu Zi No. 8854 [朝民初字第8854号], December 20, 2013

Document type
Court Decision
Country
(1) In this case, the BBS operated by the defendant “178.com” had a sub-platform for subscribers to upload ePub-formatted e-books, and a copyrighted book owned by the plaintiff had been uploaded without permission, so the plaintiff sued 178.com for copyright infringement.
(2) According to the court investigation, the defendant had a policy of rewarding these subscribers who uploaded content or replied to such content with virtual “silver coins”. Further, the defendant also appointed a moderator to manage the materials uploaded by subscribers. In this case, the infringing materials concerned was highlighted and edited by the moderator, so the moderator appointed by the defendant in fact promoted the transmission of infringing materials concerned. Based on the two reasons above, ChaoYang District Court in Beijing held that the defendant had induced its subscribers to commit infringements. See here for inclusion of this case among the 50 typical IP cases in 2013 in China
Country
Year
2013
Topic, claim, or defense
Copyright
Document type
Court Decision
Issuing entity
Lowest Domestic Court
Type of service provider
Host (Including Social Networks)
Type of law
Civil
General effect on immunity
Weakens Immunity