An assistant judge from the Beijing Internet Court (BIC), gave an online legal educational lecture on short-video-related copyright infringement at Beijing Union University during the fifth Constitution publicity week from Dec 4 to 10, as one of the court's efforts to improve public knowledge of the country's Constitution.  

Between Sept 9, 2018 and Feb 28, 2022, the BIC handled 2,812 short- video-related copyright infringement cases, an annual increase. The cases displayed a wider range of litigation entities and greater complexity of alleged infringement forms, according to the lecture of Gao Ya, assistant judge of the BIC. 

Causes for the above expansion can mainly be found in the following three aspects: the booming of the short-video industry and its competition with and convergence into other industries; the direct infringers tend to be scattered and hidden, thus right owners tend to sue the short-video platforms; and the short-video producers generally lack awareness of copyright protection, resulting in frequent infringement. 

Gao went through a range of typical cases to illustrate key knowledge concerning copyright cases such as the judgment of copyright ownership, the relationship between a property right and copyright, and typical forms of infringement.

The lecture attracted over 5,000 online viewers at its peak time during the streaming session, and was well received by the student audience.