Writers win copyright lawsuit against Baidu_美文

Writers win copyright lawsuit against Baidu

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One of the most-read writers in China has won a copyright infringement lawsuit against search engine Baidu.

Han Han and two other writers had sued Baidu over its online library, Wenku, claiming the site offered their works for free without permission.

Although judges at Haidian District People's Court supported their claim, the trio received a total of just 145,000 yuan ($23,000) in damages, far lower than they were asking.

The ruling stated that Baidu was at fault because it had waited for the authors to contact its staff about their work, instead of taking measures to prevent piracy by users.

"The compensation is too low. Many experts and lawyers think the compensation should have been higher," said Liu Yinliang, an associate law professor in intellectual property rights at Peking University.

Liu said legislators are expected to increase the financial penalties that courts can levy on companies that infringe on the copyright of Chinese authors.

Han, who sued after three of his books appeared on Wenku, had asked for 760,000 yuan, as well as an apology posted on the company's homepage and the closure of the online library. He was awarded just over 80,000 yuan.

However, evidence of the severity of the infringement was insufficient, the ruling said, adding that the request for compensation was too high and the demand Wenku be closed had no legal basis.