E-Literature Site Sues Shanda for Antitrust
National Business Daily, 6/18/09
Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court has begun hearing Shanghai's first antitrust case, brought by Sursen's Beijing-based online literature site Du8.com against Shanda's (Nasdaq: SNDA) original literature site Qidian.
Du8.com is suing over author Kou Bin's online novel "Star Change", which was serialized on the website. Shortly thereafter, Shanda told Kou to cease producing any content for Du8.com, and ordered Du8.com to issue a letter of apology, as well as demanding other publishing websites remove any of the novel's content. Following these events, Kou Bin signed on as a writer on Shanda's Qidian.
Du8.com argues that Qidian was able to force the author to switch companies due to its dominance in the market. The court is expected to rule on the case later today.
Meanwhile Shanda and Qidian are suing Du8.com in Shanghai Pudong District People's Court for copyright infringement. That case is still in progress.
Editor's Note: For more background on both cases, please see "Du8 Sues Shanda for Unfair Competition", MD, 4/15/09 issue, and "Shanda Literature to Sue Du8 for Copyright Infringement, MD, 1/10/09 issue.
Keywords: Kou Bin antitrust copyright Du8 IPR infringement Internet online literature Shanda Shanda Literature Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People SNDA Star Change Sursen litigation law
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