Yesterday was October 17, exactly 16 years after Mr. Barkin's death. Among the many ways to commemorate Mr. Barkin, reading Barkin is perhaps one of the best. However, in recent years, schools and libraries have continuously reported to reporters that many of Mr. Ba Jin's works, including the online copyright of "Home", are owned by a company, and the company called Chinese Online has also continuously sued a number of public institutions including Sichuan Xingwen No. 2 Middle School, Daxian Vocational High School, Ziyang City Library and other public institutions for compensation.
"Do students have to lose money reading books in the school's digital library? We are a public school, and we put Ba Jin's works in the school's digital library, just to enrich the reading and teaching and research of teachers and students..." Yuan Xiaoping, who was the principal of Xingwen No. 2 Middle School at the time, was very angry. Some lawyers believe that the company may be a malicious lawsuit for financial gain, and once supported, it will affect more students' learning opportunities.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > sue Xingwen II for infringement by using Ba Jin's "Home"</h1>
Lawyer Yang Liang: Suing more than 10 schools at the same time, is it a malicious lawsuit?
Sichuan Xingwen No. 2 Middle School is located in Xingwen County, Yibin City, Sichuan Province, is a public school, in the face of a sudden complaint, the school is "confused", so it hired Lawyers Yang Liang and Wang Wenlong of Sichuan Yanzhou Law Firm as lawyers. "At the opening of the trial, I raised the question whether the plaintiff, while suing Xingwen No. 2 Middle School, was also suing a number of other public schools or institutions on the same grounds. Is the aim of profiting in this way? Lawyer Yang Liang told reporters that at that time, the school lost the first trial.
Lawyer Wang Wenlong: What affects students' learning opportunities is the impact
Wang Wenlong, a lawyer representing him, also suspected that beijing Chinese online digital publishing co., ltd. this move or malicious litigation, the purpose is not to protect their copyright, but economic interests, "second-instance mediation, the company to find the school to compensate hundreds of thousands of dollars, said that the school still has hundreds of books infringing." Wang Wenlong believes that the company did not remind and notify the school of the suspected infringement, did not inform the school, but directly sued for compensation, the school is after receiving the indictment, only to know that it may be infringing, and then immediately deleted, disconnected the link.
Wang Wenlong believes that Xingwen Erzhong did not use these e-books to make a profit, nor did it have a huge economic impact on the company. As a public school, Xingwen No.2 Middle School provides teachers and students with "digital books" that can be read online, with the aim of increasing students' opportunities to expand their knowledge. If companies like Beijing Chinese Online keep looking for various school litigation claims, once supported, it will affect more students' learning opportunities.
Principal: The school does not gain financial benefits in order to enrich students' reading
Yuan Xiaoping, then principal of Xingwen No. 2 Middle School in Sichuan Province, is currently serving as the director of the Xingwen County Education and Sports Bureau, and when he learned that the company had also sued a number of public schools and units, Yuan Xiaoping was a little angry, "Suspecting that this company is taking advantage of loopholes, the school uploaded works to the digital library, the purpose is to enrich students' reading, and never obtained any economic benefits..." Yuan Xiaoping told reporters, in the end, the court ruled that the company won the first instance, and Xingwen Second Middle School compensated the company for 7,000 yuan. Because the school's digital library involves many works, "what this company means is that it only sued one work of our school, the court ordered the school to compensate 7,000 yuan, and the company's people said that you still have hundreds of works infringing, which is a bit threatening..." Yuan Xiaoping said that the school had no choice but to settle out of court in the second instance, and Xingwen Erzhong finally compensated the company for about 40,000 yuan.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="47" > the company sued several schools and libraries at the same time</h1>
The reporter casually searched from the judgment documents online and found that at the same time that Beijing Chinese Online Digital Publishing Co., Ltd. sued Sichuan Xingwen No. 2 Middle School, its affiliated group, Chinese Online Digital Publishing Group Co., Ltd., also sued a number of public schools and institutions, and the lawsuits were also filed against: Sichuan Province Daxian Vocational High School, Panzhihua City No. 12 Middle School, Sichuan Province Guang'an Dai City Middle School, Ziyang City Library, Ziyang City Yanjiang District Library, and Sichuan Province Guangyuan City Foreign Chinese School. Without exception, the cause of litigation is the dissemination of infringement on the Internet.
"What's even stranger is that the company is also demanding compensation for economic losses before they were authorized..." Lawyers in similar infringement cases argue that it is absurd in itself to trace its unauthorized economic losses, regardless of whether the company is fully authorized.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="48" > sued Daxian Vocational High School</h1>
It is used for intranet learning, but it is asked for huge losses
Zhang Youguo, a lawyer at Sichuan Hongxin Law Firm, has represented Daxian Vocational High School in a similar infringement case. Beijing Chinese Online Digital Publishing Co., Ltd. once sued for infringement of the work "Never Look Away" uploaded in the school's book system.
Zhang Youguo said that the school book system can only be read by teachers and students, outsiders can not log in to read, only for teaching, not profitable, and did not cause greater economic losses to the company, but the company asked the school to compensate for the huge economic losses caused to it, Zhang Youguo believes that the school did not infringe. "The other party found a problem, did not inform the school, and did not care at all whether the school deleted, disconnected the link, only wanted compensation, and there were many similar cases, the purpose is very clear, that is, to want financial compensation..." Zhang Youguo believes that if there are many schools involved, the company should reflect to the competent unit and publicly require each school to delete (e-books), but the other party does not care, the purpose is very clear.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="49" > sued Ziyang City Library and Yanjiang District Library</h1>
At the same time, the reporter learned from the Ziyang City Library and the Ziyang Yanjiang District Library that the two libraries have also been sued at the same time, "I am very impressed, because our library is of a public welfare nature, and basically never involves litigation disputes." "The two libraries are public, public welfare, there are no profit projects, books and digital books are procured through the formal bidding process, whether there is infringement, should be borne by the third party (the purchased party) ..." The reporter learned from the heads of the two libraries that the Chinese online company finally withdrew two lawsuits and privately negotiated with the third party (the book purchaser).
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="50" > financial report shows that last year's net profit was 48.92 million yuan</h1>
The "Chinese Online Digital Publishing Group Co., Ltd. 2020 Annual Financial Final Account Report" shows that the company achieved operating income of 975 million yuan in 2020, of which the net profit attributable to the shareholders of the listed company was 48.92 million yuan.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="51" > 3,025 online copyright disputes, demanding compensation of 59.81 million yuan</h1>
According to the data on the "Enterprise Investigation" statistical judgment documents online, the company had 3,025 cases involving "infringement of the right to online dissemination of works", of which the company, as the plaintiff, demanded compensation from the defendant for more than 59.81 million yuan.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="52" > media: Will there be a suspicion of "loophole-style" rights protection? </h1>
Chinese Online published an "Announcement on the Cumulative Litigation and Arbitration Cases" on the official website of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, saying that it had sued nearly 10,000 intellectual property protection cases and involved more than 100,000 works.
In this regard, there have been media reports that Chinese Online Company and its subsidiaries have accumulated 265 million yuan in litigation and arbitration in 12 consecutive months, of which, as a suing party, 226 cases were involved in the case in one year, involving an amount of 222 million yuan. Some media commented: 226 lawsuits were launched in a year, with a cumulative amount of 222 million yuan, Chinese launched intellectual property lawsuits so frequently online, will there be a suspicion of "loophole" rights protection? In the previous widely disputed incident of a picture website, the outside world believed that the website used the copyright of the picture as a "big stick" and maliciously launched thousands of copyright lawsuits to obtain high compensation or subsequent commercial benefits.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="53" > cases were prosecuted in Tianjin</h1>
The reporter's search found that the company's registered place was in Beijing, and there were 2323 cases prosecuted in Beijing, 1616 cases in Tianjin, 358 cases in Hubei Province, 210 cases in Fujian Province, 196 cases in Guangdong Province, 57 cases in Chongqing, and 45 cases in Sichuan.
Among them, most of the cases were not in Tianjin and were eventually prosecuted in the Tianjin court. In this regard, Ms. Chen, the relevant person in charge of the Chinese Online Digital Publishing Group Co., Ltd., said that the company has subsidiaries in Tianjin, so it can go to Tianjin to sue, "many places in the country have subsidiaries before."
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="54" ></h1>
1. Should it be legal for scientific research, does it really constitute infringement?
Mr. Pu Hu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chengdu Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a senior partner of Sichuan Zhigao Law Firm, believes that first of all, it depends on whether the company has obtained authorization, and there are many kinds of authorizations, and whether the rights obtained are legal and complete; secondly, the works have a certain degree of fair use rights, such as: for scientific research, it is legal, depending on whether the user really constitutes infringement.
2. It depends on the specific details of the author's authorization
Xing Lianchao, a lawyer at Sichuan Hedi Law Firm, said the company can indeed sue others for infringement, but it depends on whether the author or the copyright owner authorizes it, and what the specific details of the authorization are.
3. Provincial Copyright Bureau: You can report to the territorial cultural law enforcement detachment
In this regard, the relevant person in charge of the Sichuan Provincial Copyright Bureau told reporters that schools and libraries can fully report to the local cultural law enforcement detachment, such as the company in Beijing, it can report to the Beijing Cultural Law Enforcement Detachment, and the territorial investigation collects clues.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="55" > response</h1>
Chinese Online: Authorized to consult a lawyer at the school
In this regard, Ms. Chen, the relevant person in charge of Chinese Online Digital Publishing Group Co., Ltd., said that the company had obtained the exclusive network dissemination authorization of Ba Jin's works as early as the beginning of its establishment, and suggested that relevant schools and libraries consult lawyers before seeking media exposure, "These schools do not even know that they have infringed." "We have been authorized by relatives with the right to inherit Fromkin, and this year there is a new authorization to renew..."
In this regard, the reporter contacted Ba Jin's relatives and children through multiple channels and the staff of the "Ba Jin Former Residence" scenic spot, and the staff relayed that their relatives were temporarily reluctant to speak out on this matter, and "Ba Jin's former residence also has no right to intervene."
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="56" > netizen comments: Look at the textbook is infringing, damaging the image of Ba Lao</h1>
Netizen @ Haizi sister: I don't believe that Ba Jin's family will authorize a company to make profits like this! The details should be thoroughly investigated! Is it being exploited?
Reader Mr. Liu: As long as you read these literary works or teaching materials on the Internet, are they infringing? Look at a textbook is infringing?
Netizen @ Xiaomi Spicy: If this is the case, it is recommended that the Ministry of Education exclude the works of Ba Jin and other writers from primary schools, junior high schools and extracurricular extended reading textbooks, and be used by such companies for profit, which damages the image of Ba Lao, and it has become an infringement to see a textbook?!
(Reporters Qin Xiangfei and Huang Guangming)