ISP Liability: China's internet court said Wechat is not obliged to disconnect portal to a Mini-Program upon notification of copyright infringing content

This post is a stub.  This is an important decision which presents an opportunity to look at the notice and take down provisions of the 2010 Tort Law - which it is expected will be preserved in the draft civil code.  The Supreme People's Court in November 2014 issued a set of rules governing such claims.  I'll have more to say about this development. - gwc
ISP Liability: China's internet court said Wechat is not obliged to disconnect portal to a Mini-Program upon notification of copyright infringing content: In a recent decision issued by the Hangzhou Internet Court on 27 February 2019, the Court finds that Wechat is not liable for copyright infringing content uploaded to three Mini-Programs ran via its public account platform.
by Christine Yiu
Bird & Bird

In a recent decision issued by the Hangzhou Internet Court on 27 February 2019, the Court finds that Wechat is not liable for copyright infringing content uploaded to three Mini-Programs ran via its public account platform. The case relates to a copyrighted series of online psychology tutorials taught by a KOL. The plaintiff Daodou enjoys an exclusive licence of the online dissemination right to the copyright work. Daodou discovered that infringing copies of the tutorials were made available on three separate Mini-Programs ran by the first defendant Baizhan. Daodou thus complained to Wechat and requested that it uses its power as the platform owner to disconnect the three Mini-Programs.  Wechat argued that it does not have the obligation to do so under the law and also in view of objective technical reasons.