A MAN surnamed Wang has been sentenced to three years and eight months in prison with a fine of 410,000 yuan (US$63,550) for the crime of copyright infringement. The verdict was given by the Longgang District People’s Court.

It was the first criminal case that involved art works copyright infringement to be seen in Shenzhen. The court judgment has come into full force and effect.

The Longgang court found that from October 2016 to November 2018, without the authorization from American company CCA and B, LLC, Wang purchased counterfeit Plushee Pals and Mini Reindeer toys, which he knew infringed the copyrights owned by the company.

Wang allegedly purchased the counterfeits at low prices so he could sell them at a much higher profit, therefore seeking personal gain by selling the toys on a number of online stores he operated on e-commerce platforms, including Alibaba and Amazon.

On Oct. 31, 2018, the Longgang division of Shenzhen Administration for Market Regulation seized 8,340 Plushee Pals toys and 215 Mini Reindeer toys that were located in Wang’s company in Jihua Subdistrict, Longgang District.

The toys were identified by the copyright appraisal committee of Copyright Protection Center of China as exact copies of the Plushee Pals and Mini Reindeer toys from CCA and B, LLC.

On July 15, 2019, the case was transferred to Longgang public security subbureau for handling and Wang was arrested by the police Aug. 1, 2019.

After verification, the amount of funds involved in the case reached a total of 771,000 yuan. The court ruled that Wang’s behaviors have constituted a crime of copyright infringement. (Zhang Yu)