1. Beijing “10/24” Infringement upon Copyright in Internet Literature Case
In September 2018, based on relevant evidence, the public security authority in Beijing investigated the case. It was found upon investigation that since 2018, Qin and other persons have operated Dingyue Group and, without the permission of the copyright owners, provided 5,072 infringing online literary works to users on more than 10 APP platforms including the “Hongyan Biographies” “TXT Complete Free Novels”, and made profits through advertising, paid reading, and other means. In December 2020, the People’s Court of Haidian District, Beijing Municipality sentenced Beijing Dingyue Literature and Information Technology Co., Ltd. to a fine of 1.5 million RMB for the crime of copyright infringement, and sentenced Tan and other three persons to a fixed-term imprisonment of three years with a fines ranging from 200,000 RMB to 800,000 RMB, and sentenced the other eight persons to fixed-term imprisonment and a fine.