The classic palace fighting drama “Strategy of Yanxi Palace” caused a big sensation after its broadcast in 2018. I didn’t expect to be sued recently for allegedly infringing other people’s photographic works. Among them, 70 episode titles and 6 extra episodes used the infringed photographic works. After the plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the three companies involved in the case, the court of first instance ruled that the plaintiff should be compensated RMB 60,000 (approximately NT$270,000).
According to “Sina Entertainment”, the plaintiff “Fan Mou” claimed that his photographic works published on TuCong.com and Weibo accounts were misappropriated by the TV series “Strategy of Yanxi Palace” for the title of the main drama and the extra episodes without permission, which constituted commercial use. They should receive relevant remuneration, and sued the three companies involved in the case, including Beijing iQiyi Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai Baoyue Film and Television Investment Co., Ltd., and Dongyang Huanyu Film and Television Culture Co., Ltd., and required the other party to bear legal responsibility.
In this regard, iQIYI, as an online broadcasting platform, believes that the platform has no obligation to review the content of “Story of Yanxi Palace”, nor the ability to review the content, and has no reasonable reason to know or should know that “Yanxi Palace” may infringe. It is claimed that there is no subjective intention in this regard, and that after receiving the plaintiff’s complaint materials, it has informed the producer to modify it as soon as possible, and requested the court to dismiss the plaintiff’s lawsuit. The production company Dongyang Huanyu pointed out that the plaintiff’s existing evidence was insufficient to prove that he was the copyright owner of the photographic work involved, and the alleged infringing picture was only “a frame of the title”. constitute substantially similar.
After the trial, the court of first instance held that the evidence submitted by the plaintiff was insufficient to prove the actual loss or the specific amount of the defendant’s violation of the law, and comprehensively considered the award-winning status and popularity of “Yanxi Palace”, the popularity and number of episodes of the main drama and side stories involved, the original work in the original Due to factors such as the proportion of dramas and side stories, and the duration of the acts involved, the three defendants were ordered to pay RMB 60,000 in compensation, and Dongyang Huanyu and Shanghai Baoyue were required to issue an apology in the People’s Court News within 10 days of the effective date of the judgment. statement; but the judge also dismissed the plaintiff’s other claims.