Recently, according to a civil judgment published by China Judgments Online, Tencent was sued by Alibaba for infringing on the information network dissemination rights of music works such as Mayday, Liang Jingru, Pinguan, and was sentenced to compensate RMB 432,000 in the first instance.
The above-mentioned judgment of the first instance shows that the plaintiff Alibaba Culture Media Co., Ltd. alleged that Tencent Technology Company, Tencent Computer Company, and Tencent Music Company used the "Tencent Dingdang Smart Audio-visual Screen" and the supporting "Tencent Dingdang" App to inform users without authorization, providing the musical works involved in the case constituted infringement.
The reporter learned that Tencent Dingdang smart audio-visual screen is the first smart speaker product with a screen released by Tencent on December 18, 2018. After users download the Tencent Dingdang App and connect it to the smart audio-visual screen, they can use the screen to play music works through the App search.
It is reported that there are 72 musical works involved in the case, which were included in ten albums by singers such as Mayday, Pin Guan, Guangliang, Liang Jingru, Ren Xianqi, Xin Xiaoqi and others. From November 1, 2018, to October 31, 2021, Rolling Stone International Music Co., Ltd. authorized the plaintiff to enjoy the exclusive information network dissemination rights of the above-mentioned musical works, that is, the right to take legal measures against infringing third parties.
The defendant argued that after the user instructed the speaker, the speaker would send a request to the qq.com server, and the whole process was completed directly in the Dingdang speaker and the App. Since users do not need to call or access QQ Music software during the entire process of playing music, Tencent Music is not a qualified defendant.
Similarly, Tencent Technology is only a hardware manufacturer of Tencent Dingdang smart audio-visual screens and did not provide users with online dissemination services of the music works involved. Therefore, the defendant believes that the company should not be liable for infringement.
Tencent Computer Company stated that the evidence submitted by the plaintiff shows that the software download source and service subject of the Tencent DingDang smart audio-visual screen music service are all from the qq.com domain name and website, which means that the music service provider, in this case, is Tencent Computer Company. The plaintiff’s listing of Tencent Music as a co-defendant was essentially false defendant, deliberately created a jurisdiction junction.
After trial, the Court found that Tencent Technology Company and Tencent Computer Company directly infringed the plaintiff’s network information dissemination rights through different work divisions based on the purpose of joint cooperation, based on the liaison of common will. According to the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases involving Civil Disputes over Infringements upon Personal Rights and Interests through Information Networks stipulates that tort liability shall be jointly assumed. Tencent Music Company cannot prove that it has committed joint infringement due to insufficient evidence, and shall not bear joint infringement liability. In accordance with the "Copyright Law" and other relevant regulations, the Court ruled that the defendant should immediately stop the infringement. In addition, considering factors such as the popularity and influence of the musical works involved, the scale of speaker sales, duration, and consequences, the Court determined that the defendant must compensate the plaintiff for economic losses based on 6,000 yuan per song, that is, the defendant must compensate 432,000 yuan.
