The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), a government agency supervising content production in the country, is suing the Cupertino, California-based Apple for infringing the exclusive online broadcast right of a film it made, according to a June 30 post on the website of the People’s Court in Haidian.
A unit of SARFT, which owns the movie channel on state broadcaster CCTV, is filing the lawsuit because Apple’s app store allows users to download the Youku HD app, which the agency says is streaming a film it produced and aired in 1994 without obtaining permission. Both Apple and Youku Tudou, an online video site owned by Chinese e-commerce giant
Apple recently was dealt with a string of legal setbacks in China, which accounts for more than 25% of the company’s sales. The Beijing Intellectual Property Office has ordered Apple to halt the sales of its iconic iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones after ruling that the company infringed the design patent of Shenzhen-based device maker Baili. Apple, which has filed an appeal against the order in the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, is still entitled to selling the two models before receiving a court judgment.
Apple didn’t respond to an e-mailed request for comment. Alibaba declined to comment. Youku Tudou said it had no comment on the matter. A person who picked up the phone at SARFT said he is not authorized to comment and declined to transfer the call.
The company’s China woes don’t stop here. The Higher People’s Court of Beijing ruled in May that leather-goods maker Xintong Tiandi Technology can keep using the name IPHONE for its wallets, handbags and smartphone cases, after Apple tried for years to stop the company from doing so. In April, Chinese authorities abruptly shut down the company’s iBooks Store and iTunes Movie just six months after they started in the country. Authorities haven’t explained the ban.
