Local karaoke business operator receives 5-month imprisonment for Copyright Act violation by possessing karaoke machine integrated with pirated streaming platform app

　In 2018, the responsible person, LIN Sheng-Wen (hereinafter “Lin”) of Shang Cheng Audio-Visual Technology Co., Ltd. (transliteration of the Chinese company name, 尚呈影音科技有限公司; hereinafter “Shang Cheng”) worked with Tianhui Computer Science Technology Company based in Guangzhou, China (transliteration of the Chinese company name, 天匯計算機科技公司; hereinafter “Tianhui”) to have the karaoke video streaming platform and app, which was produced and compiled by Tianhui, integrated into the cloud-based karaoke machines.  These machines that contained unauthorized pirated karaoke videos were then rented to the unaware downstream business operator and placed in public venues for profit-gaining purpose.  Following a trial at the New Taipei District Court, Shang Cheng was sentenced to five months in prison for violating the Copyright Act and was fined TWD150,000.  The judgment is appealable.  

　In 2017, the unaware business operator rented the said cloud-based karaoke machines from Lin, placing them in a KTV store situated in Yonghe District, New Taipei City for commercial use, while the market investigator of Young Sound Multimedia Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 揚聲多媒體科技公司), the economic right holder of the karaoke videos, visited the said KTV store to collect evidence and report the matter to the police in September 2017.  During the trial, Lin defended himself by claiming that he believed the videos provided by Tianhui had been properly licensed.  

　The court determined that Lin subjectively held the oblique intent to assist in economic right infringement by unauthorized public transmission of copyrighted works on the ground that:  Lin was aware that the app in question might be linked to pirated karaoke videos uploaded without the copyright holder’s consent, and also knew that the karaoke audiovisual works must be properly licensed for playback, but Lin still proceeded to integrate the app in question provided by Tianhui into the karaoke machines and rent these machines to the downstream business operator, despite the fact that Tianhui was unable to provide any proof of authorization from the copyright holder.  (Released 2024.07.22)  
/CCS