Ruling in September holds Apple liable for hosting illicit content

Apple has appealed an $84,000 judgement applied in China over pirated versions of an encyclopedia sold on the iOS App Store. Apple claims that it is not responsible for the development of the content, nor did it deliberately engage in copyright violation. The appeal declares that the court's ruling on the complaint was faulty, and added that the $84,000 fine was excessive and incorrectly applied.

The Encyclopedia of China Publishing House was originally granted the award in September, based on Apple both hosting, approving, and profiting from sales of the pirated content. An Apple statement after the award in September declared that "the App Store offers customers in China access to an incredible selection of over 700,000 apps created by Apple’s developer community. As an IP holder ourselves, Apple understands the importance of protecting intellectual property and when we receive complaints, as we did in this case, we respond promptly and appropriately."

If left to stand, the case and ruling could provide a precedent for additional cases in China, filed by a group of nine writers. The group insists that Apple has profited by allowing pirated works to promulgate from the App Store. Damages to the tune of $3.65 million are requested by the authors, prompted by the discovery of nearly 100 stolen works on the App Store.

by MacNN Staff