Dispute over Infringement of the Right to Network Dissemination of Information among A Sports Media Company, A Television Company, A Communication Company Hainan Branch, and An Audio Visual Company

[Facts]

A Sports Media Company was authorized to obtain the exclusive new media network video rights and exclusive network product rights for the 2016-2020 Chinese Super League seasons. A Television Company, An Audio Visual Company, and A Communications Company (Hainan Branch) signed an IPTV Business Cooperation Agreement, agreeing that A Television Company and An Audio Visual Company would be responsible for the integration and broadcasting control of all the contents in the IPTV business and for the management of copyrights, while A Communications Company (Hainan Branch) would be responsible for the transmission of IPTV signals. A Sports Media Company, in the process of rights protection, found that the 2019 season of the Chinese Super League and other related programs were broadcast on a television program on a certain day in 2019. Consequently, it filed a lawsuit with the Hainan FTP Intellectual Property Court, seeking an injunction to rule that A Television Company, A Communications Company (Hainan Branch), and An Audio Visual Company were guilty of infringing upon its right to disseminate its works on the information network. It also requested that the three defendants immediately cease providing online broadcasting services for the 2019 season of the Chinese Football Association Super League on IPTV in Hainan, and compensate for economic losses and reasonable expenses.

[Judgment]

The Hainan FTP Intellectual Property Court held that the acts of A Television Company and An Audio Visual Company infringed upon the exclusive right of A Sports Media Company to disseminate its works on the information network. A Communications Company (Hainan Branch), which only provided signal transmission and technical support services for the IPTV business and had no control over the content broadcast on the IPTV platform involved in the case, was deemed a network service provider and did not constitute joint infringement. Therefore, The Hainan FTP Intellectual Property Court ruled that A Television Company and An Audio Visual Company shall immediately cease the online broadcasting services of the events concerned in Hainan and compensate A Sports Media Company for economic losses and reasonable expenses totaling RMB 15,000 dismissing other litigation requests by A Sports Media Company. A Sports Media Company A and A Television Company, unsatisfied with the judgment and appealed. The court of the second instance dismissed the appeal and affirmed the original judgment.

[Significance]