Chaoxing Sues Youku for IPR Infringement
Beijing Times, 12/03/10
Chinese online video site Youku, now in the final months before its planned IPO, has been sued for IPR infringement by software and IT web portal Chaoxing. The case is being heard by the Haidian District People's Court in Beijing.
According to a representative of Chaoxing, the case touches upon an academic video series shot and produced by the company featuring lectures by over 3,000 international scholars. The series covers over a dozen academic subjects including literature, history, philosophy, engineering, medicine, and agriculture, and represents an investment of RMB 100 mln. Currently these videos are primarily made available through Chaoxing's official website, where they can be viewed online. In January, 2010, the company discovered that Youku was carrying a large number of these videos without having obtained permission from Chaoxing, making them available to users to view online or download for free. A portion of the videos had leading and trailing ads affixed to them.
In March, 2010, Chaoxing initiated the suit against Youku, asking for RMB 30,000 in compensation. Court mediation brought the companies to an agreement, but Chaoxing claims that Youku did not abide by the terms of the agreement, neither delivering the compensation, nor ceasing distribution of the videos. For this reason, Chaoxing has initiated a second suit with regard to 596 videos, raising compensation claims to RMB 10.7 mln.
Entering the search terms "Chaoxing academic" (in Chinese characters) on Youku produces 40 hits for academic videos.
The case is currently progressing to the next stage of hearings.
Keywords: Chaoxing penalty Internet IPO IPR infringement online video Youku law litigation Beijing Haidian District People's Court
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