Source | Xuhui Inspection
In recent years, some game companies have launched remasters or remasters of many classic games in order to satisfy the nostalgia of players. For example, the copyright owner of the online game "Magic Baby", which was popular at the beginning of the 21st century, entrusted Company A to develop a replica.
However, when Company A worked hard to complete the game development and prepare for online operation, it found that the same game was already on the market.
The departing team steals the game code
In May 2021, Zhang Moujia learned through his circle of friends that Zhang Mouyi, an executive of Company A who was developing a replica of "Magic Baby", and his team wanted to leave, so he contacted him and said that he wanted to invest in his establishment of a company.
(Comparison of genuine and pirated games)
With Zhang's investment, Zhang quickly established Company B and launched several games, but the market response was not good, and he could only barely feed the team. At this time, Zhang Mouyi and others remembered that before they left, they had secretly copied the game code of "Magic Baby" from Company B and brought it out as a "spare", so they teamed up with Zhang Moujia to start the project of pirating "Magic Baby".
(Comparison of genuine and pirated games)
In January 2022, without the permission of the copyright owner and without a version number, Company B launched a pirated version of the game "Magic Baby". But within a few days, the person in charge of S Company, which owns the copyright to the "Magic Baby" IP, approached Zhang, saying that the game was suspected of infringing on the company's IP and asked him to remove it immediately. Zhang Moujia ostensibly agreed to remove the game, but behind the scenes, he discussed with Zhang Mouyi, intending to "give the game a makeover" and re-put it on the shelves.
(Screenshot of pirated game)
Therefore, Zhang Moujia and Zhang MouB acted separately, with Zhang MouB instructing Shen, Zhou Moumou and Hu of Company B to tamper with the game code, and Zhang Mousen instructed Zhou, Xie, Li and Hu to be responsible for changing domain names, SDKs (game registration, login and recharge interfaces), and applying other game version numbers. After a series of operations, Company B continued to operate this pirated version of "Magic Baby" under the disguise of names such as "Mouse Adventure" and "Fighting Hip Tour".
Procuratorial organs promote the governance of litigation sources
When Company A completed development and was ready to officially launch the "Magic Baby" game, it found that highly similar pirated games such as "Douxi You" were already in operation online, so it sent someone to the Xuhui Public Security Bureau in July 2022 to report the case. Soon, the public security organs arrested Zhang Moujia and Zhang Mouyi. It has been determined that the games such as "Douxi Game" operated by Company B and the genuine "Magic Baby" game are substantially the same in terms of audiovisual works and software code. According to statistics, the pirated games launched and operated have been recharged by players for more than 20 million yuan.
In the process of handling the case, while severely cracking down on copyright infringement crimes, the procurator in charge focused on the source management of pirated games. On the one hand, closely focusing on the identification standards of copyright infringement, the comprehensive and different criminal crackdown is realized, so that pirated games can not be hidden; On the other hand, through careful examination and prudent definition of unit crimes, the legitimate rights and interests of private enterprises are effectively protected.
In April 2023, after the Xuhui District People's Procuratorate initiated a public prosecution in accordance with the law, the Xuhui District People's Court rendered a first-instance judgment in accordance with the law, and the defendant Company B, defendants Zhang Moujia and Zhang MouB committed the crime of copyright infringement, and sentenced them to fixed-term imprisonment of one year to three years and six months, and fines ranging from RMB 100,000 to RMB 1 million.
Recently, the Xuhui District People's Procuratorate convened game enterprises in its jurisdiction to carry out research and discussions, report on the situation of intellectual property cases involving online games in the past three years, continuously strengthen industry governance, resolutely eradicate the soil of illegal crimes, and squeeze the living space of online black and gray products such as pirated games.
Prosecutor reminds
Pirated games and other online black and gray products not only damage the intellectual property rights of game companies, but also damage the business environment and social atmosphere. The prosecutor hereby reminds everyone that copyright embodies the wisdom and sweat of creators, and piracy is not only disrespectful to the fruits of others' labor, but also a criminal act. Wealth must be created by one's own efforts, and it is not necessary to lose the bottom line for temporary gain, and eventually be severely punished by the law.