Since the case of "Coral Edition QQ Infringement" came out, it has attracted wide attention because of its use by many netizens.
The software's functions such as "blocking advertisements and displaying friends' IP addresses" are loved by many people.
Being a software that everyone likes will also be punished? Most netizens can't understand this. On the "Coral Support Station", the reporter saw 29,047 messages supporting "Coral". How does Chen Shoufu constitute a crime?
In this regard, the reporter invited Liu Yanxi, director of the Intellectual Property Committee of Guangzhou Lawyers Association, to give him a legal interpretation of the judgment in this case.
95% plagiarized Tencent software
Lawyer Liu Yanxi said: The crime of copyright infringement refers to the act of copying and distributing works such as words, audio-visual and computer software without the permission of the copyright owner, publishing books with exclusive publishing rights for others, copying and distributing audio-visual products made by the producer without the permission of the producer, and making and selling art works with fake signatures of others, resulting in a large amount of illegal income or other serious circumstances.
Lawyer Liu Yanxi believes that the crime of copyright infringement needs to meet three conditions: first, it must have a profit-making purpose; Second, it must be infringed without permission; Third, it is necessary to achieve certain criminal circumstances.
Judging from the facts ascertained by the court, Chen Shoufu made the "Coral QQ" software package for profit without the permission of Tencent, which contains more than 95% of the files of Tencent QQ software and has the same substantive functions as Tencent QQ software; At the same time, the defendant Chen Shoufu put the "Coral QQ" software on the Internet for others to download, and his behavior constituted copying and distributing Tencent QQ software, earning RMB 1 172822 yuan, which was a huge amount of illegal income, and his behavior constituted a crime of copyright infringement, which should not be disputed.
It began to deteriorate from the day of profit.
Liu Yanxi believes that Coral QQ is a clean software when it was first launched, which can block both advertisements and malicious software, and it is unprofitable, so it is well-intentioned.
However, when it obtains economic benefits by bundling software and plug-ins, and these economic benefits infringe Tencent's interests, it constitutes a crime of copyright infringement. Moreover, coral has the function of displaying the other party's IP, which may be suspected of infringing on the privacy rights of others.
Liu Yanxi, a lawyer, also believes that the court has ruled in the first instance that even if Tencent is willing to make concessions, there is no possibility for Chen Shoufu to be exonerated.
This is different from the laws of some foreign countries. In foreign countries, if the injured party agrees to a settlement, the court can be exempted from criminal punishment. Therefore, unless the facts are changed in the second trial, Chen Shoufu should not escape criminal punishment.
National Copyright Administration: Focus on Cases
As an infringement case that affects the software copyright in China, Coral QQ has attracted much attention from all walks of life.
Zhao Ceng, director of the Copyright Division of the Copyright Administration Department of the National Copyright Administration, said that the coral version of QQ infringement case is also a key case investigated by the National Copyright Administration. At present, network infringement and piracy are rampant, and new situations emerge one after another. The relevant state departments will intensify the crackdown.
Lawyer You: This case is a light sentence.
You, an intellectual property lawyer at Shanghai Zhonghui Law Firm, said that if the case did not attract such high public attention, Chen Shoufu would be sentenced to at least five or even seven years.
Because according to the indictment, Chen Shoufu's illegal income exceeds one million, which is nearly 10 times the minimum amount stipulated by law for particularly serious circumstances. According to common sense, the legal term of imprisonment should be 3 to 7 years, and 7 years is also acceptable. It can be seen that the judgment is already a light sentence.
However, he still believes that he should be acquitted. Because millions of copies of Chen's richest Tencent QQ software are not too harmful to society, at most, it constitutes a civil infringement rather than a crime. The more copies distributed by QQ client, the better for Tencent. Although Tencent may propose some specific damages for the software, the benefits brought by the software to Tencent are enough to offset this damage. In the final analysis, the social harm of plagiarism is not enough to reach the degree of punishment.
Netizen Danshui: I hope that the two sides will reconcile.
I don't think there is any problem with the judgment in this case. In fact, Chen Shoufu did produce and publish Coral QQ without Tencent's authorization, and no software company could tolerate such a thing. This is also a great threat to the development of the company.
However, personally, I think the sentencing is still a bit heavy. After all, Chen is not a panda who burns incense. His coral has brought convenience to many people without any destruction. From this perspective, education is enough, and there is no need to sentence it to three years.
I hope the two sides can reach a settlement, which is the most ideal result.
Netizen Moonlight: The author should be punished
"Coral is a plug-in, which blocks QQ advertisements, illegally modifies QQ software functions and installs third-party rogue software. All the behaviors are obviously a kind of piracy that infringes the intellectual property rights of QQ for profit. It is undeniable that such behavior should be sanctioned by law. "
■ Case records
200 1 Chen Shoufu, a teacher of Beijing Institute of Technology's Computing Center, launched the coral version of QQ.
On June 5438+065438+ 10, 2002, Chen Shoufu issued a statement to stop updating and spreading Coral QQ, but it started updating Coral QQ after 2003.
On August 20th, 2006, Tencent filed a lawsuit against Chen Shoufu, the author of Coral QQ.
On February 20, 2006, 65,438+,the Haidian District People's Court of Beijing ruled that Tencent Company v. Coral QQ for copyright infringement won the case, and Chen Shoufu, the software author, was awarded 65,438+million yuan to Tencent Company.
On September 8, 2007, Shenzhen TV station broadcasted Coral Fire Fighting, claiming that the software author Chen Shoufu had been detained by the local public security bureau.
On June 5438+February 65438+February 9, 2007, the arrest of the author of Coral QQ was heard in Shenzhen Nanshan District Court. Chen Shoufu once confessed.
On February 24th, 2007, Case No.65438 was tried again in Shenzhen. Chen Shoufu said in his defense that Tencent knew, licensed, even instructed and benefited from Chen Shoufu's development of Coral QQ series software.
On March 6, 2008, the coral version of QQ infringement case was tried again in Shenzhen Nanshan District Court, and the result was still not pronounced in court.
On March 20th, 2008, Chen Shoufu was convicted of copyright infringement by Shenzhen Nanshan District Court, sentenced to three years' imprisonment and fined RMB 6,543.38+RMB 2,000.