Precedent case of on-line copyright infringement in the PRC 2

The Shanghai People's Court in February this year made the first ruling on copyright infringement on the Internet.

Shanghai Meiwang Technology Co. Ltd. ("Meiwang") and Lex Information Service Co. Ltd. ("Lex") were found to have copied articles written by a Mr. Shen Yang ("Shen") which were published in the website of QianlongNews.com. Shen's articles contained clear statements that any dissemination and publication of his work by third parties other than QianlongNews.com are prohibited.

Meiwang and Lex have been ordered by the Shanghai District Court to immediately cease their infringement activities and remove Shen's articles from their websites. Meiwang and Lex were also fined 10,000RMB (around US$1,205) and to publish an apology on their websites.

This case illustrates the fact that copyright of articles published on the Internet is clearly enforceable pursuant to the Management of Copyright Guideline issued by the Shanghai Municipal Government on 3 January 2000.

Luke Filei +86 21 628 96363 or luke.filei@cms-cmck.com.