First Instance Judgment Taken into Effect! Douyu Live Streaming Platform Compensates for Violating Music Copyright

Recently, the second instance judgment of the case in which Music Copyright Society of China sued Wuhan Douyu Network Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Douyu company) for copyright infringement has been released. The results showed that Beijing Intellectual Property Court (hereinafter referred to as Beijing IP Court) rejected the appeal of Douyu company and upheld the original judgment. Douyu company had to compensate Music Copyright Society of China for economic losses and reasonable expenses of 5200 Yuan.

The incident began since Douyu’s hostess Feng Timo has played the song Lianrenxin (Lover’s Heart) during her live streaming. This streaming was later made into a video and kept on Douyu live streaming platform, free for audiences who have logged in Douyu platform to play, watch and share anytime and anywhere. However, Zhang Chao, the writer and composer of Lianrenxin, has already signed a contract of music copyright with Music Copyright Society of China, which can exercise copyright on the song Lianrenxin.

In April 2018, Music Copyright Society of China sued Douyu company to Beijing Internet Court for infringement of Lianrenxin’s copyright. Music Copyright Society of China believed that Douyu company had directly infringed on its right to disseminate information of the song on the Internet, so it sued the company and required compensation for copyright royalties, attorney fees, notarization fees and other reasonable expenses.

After the hearing, the court of first instance held that the video uploaded and broadcast by Douyu company after the live streaming contained music content that was not permitted by the right holder. Its behavior has violated the right holder’s right to disseminate the music on the Internet, and Douyu company should bear copyright infringement liability for the infringement acts involved in the litigation.

Douyu company refused to accept the judgment and appealed to Beijing IP Court. It mentioned that the author of the video was the hostess. The company only provided neutral technical and information storage services, which did not constitute infringement.

On April 19, Beijing IP Court held a public hearing through an electronic litigation platform.

The court decided to maintain the first instance judgment because the facts found by the first instance court were clear, and the law was applied correctly. Douyu company’s appeal lacked basis and the court refused to support it. The final judgment rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment.

September 9, 2019

Source: China IP

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