Chinese publishing house sues Apple for copyright infringement

中国大百科诉苹果侵权 索赔53万元

Encyclopedia of China Publishing House has filed suit in a Beijing court against Apple Co. and one of its Chinese subsidiaries, alleging Apple violated the publisher's "right to network dissemination of information" by selling apps equipped with its encyclopedia content, the Beijing Business Herald reported.

The publishing company said it discovered last October that Apple was selling iPhone and iPad apps that included substantial, unlicensed portions of its Encyclopedia of China, in violation of copyright laws.

The suit seeks an injunction against sale of the software and 535,200 yuan in compensation for economic losses caused by the infringement.

The publisher's move puts Apple back in the defendant's seat for the second time in a month. Beijing LeTV Mobile Media & Technology Co. sued the U.S. tech giant in late April for infringing its right to exclusive network dissemination of "Painted Skin" and other films by providing unlicensed, paid downloads.

Apple's App Store is widely considered the most mature platform for mobile applications, with about 370,000 apps available for download. But because of management problems, the online store has become a disaster area of video and print copyright infringement.

Every work uploaded to the App Store must be reviewed and approved by Apple, said Liu Chuang, a lawyer at Beijing Ocean Law Firm. Apple failed to fulfill this duty in this case, and as a result, Encyclopedia of China has a good chance of winning, he said.

"In today's world of widespread tablet computers, users have strong demand for books on mobile devices," Liu said. "This will lead to a large increase in these types of cases for some time to come."

北京商报报道，因认为自己的信息网络传播权被侵犯，中国大百科全书出版社将苹果公司及其中国子公司告上法庭。

中国大百科公司诉称，去年10月份发现苹果在线商店上销售的iPhone和iPad应用程序中有《中国大百科全书》的大量内容，两被告的行为侵犯了原告的著作权。

中国大百科公司请求法院判令两被告立即停止侵权行为，赔偿经济损失及相关支出53.52万元。

这将是苹果第二次坐在被告席上。4月底，乐视网以涉嫌侵权状告苹果，诉称苹果在线商店在未获授权情况下提供《画皮》等电影的收费下载服务。

苹果在线商店是目前业内公认最为成熟的手机应用软件平台，拥有大约37万个应用软件。但由于管理问题苹果在线商店正成为视频、图书侵权的"重灾区"。

北京合川律师事务所律师刘闯认为，每个上传到苹果在线商店的作品必须经过苹果公司审核后才能销售，苹果公司在该案当中没有尽到责任，中国大百科公司胜诉几率较大。

刘闯表示: "在平板电脑十分普及的今天，用户对手机图书有旺盛的需求，这也将引发类似案件在未来一段时间内数量大增。"