CCTV.com sues Xunlei.com over copyright infringement

By Yang Lifei  |   2008-8-7  |     ONLINE EDITION

A CCTV.com copyright infringement lawsuit against Xunlei.com will go ahead after it was accepted by Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court.

CCTV.com claims that Xunlei.com broadcast China Central Television Station programs on its Website without permission.

According to Legal Evening Newspaper, videos of the Beijing Olympic Games torch relay as well as the 2008 Spring Festival Evening show were broadcast on Xunlei.com, however, CCTV.com has exclusive online rights of all CCTV's programs.

``Random use of such information is a violation of our rights,'' Liu Lu, chief supervisor of CCTV Olympics Copyright Protection Center, told the newspaper.

``We have prepared for the lawsuit since the Spring Festival and have collected lots of video evidence.''

Wang Wenbin, general manager of CCTV.com, said that they are suing the Website in order to avoid similar violations during the Olympic Games.

A special task force of 10 domestic Websites including CCTV.com was set up yesterday to prevent copyright violation cases.

``The other nine Websites have been authorized by CCTV to broadcast Olympic events,'' Wang said. ``Special staff from the nine Websites will be on duty around the clock to supervise Internet videos.''