Fujian Mingxi: Comprehensive review of chat records, server data and other evidence to accurately identify infringing works
In a recent case handled by the Procuratorate of Mingxi County, Fujian Province, a man named Ke was convicted and sentenced for copyright infringement involving online piracy of movies and TV series. Ke admitted that he thought he could earn some advertising fees through publishing pirated content on his personal website and app without facing serious consequences.
The case, which was selected as a typical case of procuratorial organs punishing copyright infringement crimes, involved the online infringement of copyrights in audio-visual works of movies and TV series. The procuratorial organ accurately identified the infringing works through a comprehensive review of mobile phone chat records, network platform backend and server data, among other evidence.
Ke, who had uploaded more than 50,000 pirated movies and TV series on his website and app, received over 350,000 yuan in advertising remuneration. He used crawler software to collect playback address data from major video websites and reprinted the data on his server for free viewing by netizens. This attracted a large number of viewers and advertisers who placed paid advertisements on his platforms.
After a report from a rights holder, the case was transferred to the Mingxi County Public Security Bureau for investigation. The procuratorate intervened early in the case and conducted additional investigations to accurately determine the number of infringing works and illegal proceeds. They also focused on recovering stolen goods and reversing losses to reduce the burden on rights holders filing separate compensation lawsuits.
Ke was eventually sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for four years, and fined 400,000 yuan. He also compensated the rights holder for their losses. Deputy to the National People’s Congress, Weng Zuquan, praised the procuratorial organs for cracking down on copyright infringement in online activities and emphasized the importance of protecting intellectual property rights in the digital age.
Moving forward, Weng Zuquan suggested increasing the use of electronic evidence collection, collaborating with relevant departments, and establishing a cross-regional intellectual property collaborative protection mechanism to improve the handling of internet infringement cases. He also stressed the need for public awareness and education on copyright protection to create a clean and safe online environment.