Original title: Using pirated film and television works to divert traffic and monetize them (topic)
Fujian Mingxi: Comprehensive review of chat records and server data and other evidence to accurately identify infringing works (subtitle)
Procuratorate Daily reporter Zhang Renping Correspondent Gao Shu
"I know that on my personal website And publishing pirated film and television works on the app is an infringement. I thought I was just earning some advertising fees through this method and it would not cause serious consequences. I never expected that I would be convicted and sentenced." Ke confessed. This copyright infringement case handled by the Procuratorate of Mingxi County, Fujian Province involved online infringement of copyrights in audio-visual works of movies and TV series. The procuratorial organ accurately identified the infringing works through a comprehensive review of mobile phone chat records, network platform backend and server data and other evidence. In January this year, the case was selected as a typical case of procuratorial organs punishing copyright infringement crimes in accordance with the law issued by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
During the handling of this case, the procuratorate intervened in advance according to the law, conducted additional investigations on its own, and accurately determined the number of infringing works and illegal criminal proceeds. At the same time, we focus on recovering stolen goods and reversing losses, promoting compensation and settlement, reducing the burden of rights holders filing separate compensation lawsuits, and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of copyright holders.
In April 2023, Ke was at the court hearing of the copyright infringement case.
is lucky
makes profits through free movies
One day in August 2021, Ke learned from a technical QQ group that someone created a personal website and app and uploaded pirated movies and TV series to attract netizens to watch. After the number of website views increased, Make money by advertising. Ke, who majored in computer science, felt that this was a low-cost, high-return way to make money. With the idea of giving it a try, he purchased a website and the content contained in the website for 1,200 yuan through friends in the technical QQ group. Various services and a certain cinema app. After
, Ke used the computer technology he learned and used crawler software to collect web version playback address data of movies and TV series from major video websites, stored it on the server he rented, and used technical analysis to store the data. The film and television works on the server are reproduced on the website operated and managed by him and a certain theater app, and are provided to netizens for free viewing.
In early 2022, some advertisers discovered that Ke’s website and app had high page views and downloads, and contacted Ke to place paid advertisements on his website and app.
In May 2022, the Public Security Bureau of Sanming City, Fujian Province received a report from the right holder. After filing the case, the case was transferred to the Mingxi County Public Security Bureau for investigation on suspicion of copyright infringement. On June 1 of the same year, the public security agency released Ke on bail pending trial. . The case was also listed as a case jointly supervised by five departments including the Copyright Administration Bureau of the Central Propaganda Department, the National Anti-Pornography and Anti-Illegal Affairs Office, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
As of the incident, Ke has uploaded more than 50,000 free movies and TV series of various types and received more than 350,000 yuan in advertising remuneration.
Guided the investigation
Comprehensive identification of the number of infringing works
After Ke arrived at the case, the Mingxi County Procuratorate was invited by the public security organ to intervene in advance according to the law in accordance with the mechanism for hearing opinions on major and difficult cases.
After reviewing the evidence materials, the prosecutor handling the case believed that the film and television works infringed by the reported rights holder accounted for a small part of the website and app operated by Ke. There were many film and television works involved in the website and app and the rights holders were scattered. The public security organs The relevant evidence for determining the number of unauthorized film and television works is insufficient, and a complete chain of evidence has not been formed.
Based on the evidence in the case, the prosecutor handling the case put forward opinions on how to determine the number of infringing works to guide the investigation and evidence collection: promptly extract the illegally stored electronic data of infringing film and television works from the seized criminal suspect’s computer, hard drive and rented server. Extract chat records from the suspect's mobile phone, transaction records for collecting advertising fees and other details to further identify the ownership of the copyright of the infringing works.
In the end, the public security agency compiled the electronic data of infringing film and television works stored in the server rented by Ke, eliminated duplicates, and combined the appraisal opinions and the copyright owner’s opinions on the identification of infringing film and television works, and determined that the number of infringing film and television works was 57,600.
On February 15, 2023, the public security agency transferred Ke to the Mingxi County Procuratorate for review and prosecution on suspicion of copyright infringement.
The prosecutor handling the case reviewed the case evidence and found that in order to avoid crackdown, Ke used multiple online payment accounts of his close relatives to collect advertising fees. In addition to charging advertising fees, these online payment accounts also had income unrelated to the case.
In order to find out the facts of the case as soon as possible and improve the efficiency of case handling, the court decided to carry out its own supplementary investigation.
The prosecutor handling the case retrieved the QQ chat records on Ke’s mobile phone and compared the chats between Ke and advertisers on how to calculate advertising costs based on page views and the data on the page views of websites and apps operated by Ke. Compare and sort out the transaction records of the online payment account used by Ke. By sorting out the fund details one by one, and confirming and checking the transfer time, amount and other contents with Ke one by one, it was finally determined accurately that the advertising fees collected by Ke totaled 353,500 yuan.
Recovery of stolen goods and damages
Reduce the burden of claims made by rights holders
During the review and prosecution stage, the prosecutor handling the case found that Ke failed to compensate the rights holder and did not obtain the rights holder's understanding. On March 14, 2023, the procuratorate decided to arrest Ke. At the same time, the prosecutor handling the case took the initiative to listen to the rights holder's opinions, considered compensation for the rights holder's losses as a sentencing factor, insisted on interpreting the law and reasoning, urged Mr. Ke to fulfill his obligation to compensate the rights holder, and facilitated both parties to reach a compensation settlement. In the end, Ke took the initiative to compensate the right holder for his losses, thus protecting the right holder's legitimate rights and interests to the greatest extent.
During the handling of the case, the prosecutor also actively guided Ke to withdraw the stolen goods. After hard work, Ke withdraws all illegal gains and pleads guilty and accepts punishment. Afterwards, Ke’s close relatives applied to change the compulsory measures against him, and the procuratorate conducted a detention necessity review based on the application. After convening a public hearing and listening to the opinions of the people's supervisors and hearing officers, the procuratorial organ believed that the facts of the case had been basically ascertained, the evidence had been collected and fixed, and Ke and the rights holder had reached a settlement agreement, and the adoption of bail pending trial would not cause social danger. , there was no need to continue detention, and it was decided to change the compulsory measures against Ke to release on bail pending trial.
On April 4, 2023, the Mingxi County Procuratorate prosecuted Ke on suspicion of copyright infringement. On April 20, the court sentenced Ke to three years in prison, suspended for four years, and fined 400,000 yuan.
National People’s Congress Representative Comments
National People’s Congress Representative, Director of the Burn Trauma Big Data Research Center of Fuzhou University and Professor of the School of Biological Sciences and Engineering Weng Zuquan
In the Internet era, illegal and criminal acts of infringement and piracy have spread to the Internet, and copyright protection is faced with difficulties in filing cases and obtaining evidence. There are many challenges such as difficulty in identification and recovery of stolen goods. In recent years, the procuratorial organs have firmly established the concept that protecting intellectual property rights is to protect innovation, promote the comprehensive performance of intellectual property procuratorial duties, severely crack down on copyright infringement in online communication and business activities, effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of copyright holders, and promote the standardization and healthy development of the cultural market. Provide judicial protection.
hopes that the procuratorate will severely punish piracy and infringement and increase the cost of Internet intellectual property infringement crimes. Think forward to countermeasures for Internet rights protection problems, increase the intensity of electronic evidence collection, strengthen the use of wisdom, and use "data modeling" to empower the handling of Internet infringement cases to improve quality and efficiency; in view of the difficult, complex and highly professional characteristics of Internet intellectual property infringement criminal cases , actively introduce external intelligence and external brains, strengthen collaboration with relevant functional departments, establish and form a cross-regional, cross-department, and cross-level intellectual property collaborative protection mechanism to form a synergy for intellectual property protection. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the publicity of the legal protection of intellectual property rights, use typical cases to guide citizens to establish copyright awareness, consciously respect intellectual property rights, form a good protective atmosphere in the whole society, and jointly build a clean, safe and orderly Internet environment.
Source: Procuratorate Daily
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