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CCTV sues website for illegal broadcast

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-16 15:33

CCTV.com, the website of China Central Television, had filed another suit against a Guangzhou-based Chinese website for live broadcasting an Olympic torch relay leg without permission, media reports said on Saturday.

The Legal Daily said in a report that CCTV.com, run by the CCTV International Networks Co Ltd, claimed in the suit that Shijilong Information Network Co Ltd, whose web portal was 21cn.com, had broadcast live the Olympic torch relay on May 8 on Mount Qomolangma (Everest), the world's highest peak.

The plaintiff said the online broadcasting rights of CCTV's programs belonged to CCTV.com and any use of these contents without authorization was considered as a copyright infringement.

"Shijilong's actions seriously infringed the rights and interests of CCTV.com, and caused great economic losses to the plaintiff," the lawyer for CCTV.com Long Chao said, quoted by another newspaper the Chongqing Commercial Daily.

CCTV.com has been recognized by the International Olympic Committee as China's only official Internet and mobile broadcaster of the Beijing Games.

Long said CCTV.com demanded the accused to make a public apology and compensate about 4.1 million yuan ($597,667). The intermediate people's court of Guangzhou, the provincial capital of southern China's Guangdong, had accepted the case.

However, a Shijilong official surnamed Xiao, reached by the Chongqing Commercial Daily, said his company had not received any notice either from the court or CCTV.com.

It was the second time for CCTV.com to file lawsuit against a website for Olympic Internet video copyright infringement.

Earlier this month, CCTV.com had filed a suit against xunlei.com, one of the country's largest download service providers. It accused xunlei.com of illegally broadcasting live the Olympic torch relay on June 30 in the Wuzhong leg in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

In this case, CCTV.com demanded the accused to make a public apology and compensate more than 2 million yuan.

The case against xunlei.com would be handled by the Second Intermediate People's Court of Shanghai Municipality.