The Notice of the Supreme People’s Court on the Trial of Copyright Disputes involving Internet Cafes was promulgated in 2010 and entered into force on 25 Nov. 2010.

There are five articles in total, which aim to provide a unified standard for the application of law in the trial of infringement cases due to Internet cafes providing cinematographic works.

The key points are as follows:

1.If an Internet cafe operator, without permission, provides copyrighted cinematographic works of others thorough the Internet cafe, which infringes right holders’ right of communication through information network, etc., the court shall, according to the plaintiff’s claim, order the infringer to stop the infringement and compensate the plaintiff for the losses.

2.If the Internet cafe operator can prove that the cinematographic works involved are legally acquired from a qualified cinematographic works provider, and it neither knows nor should have known that the cinematographic works involved infringe right holders’ right of communication through information network, etc. according to the specific circumstances at the time of acquisition, it shall not bear the civil liability of compensation for losses.