In order to strengthen copyright protection and safeguard the high-quality development of digital education, the Beijing Internet Court (BIC) held a press conference on April 18 to brief on its trials of copyright cases concerning digital education since its establishment four years ago. A white paper on such trials was released at the event, which summarizes the features of the cases and judgment thoughts.

Zhao Ruigang, vice-president of the Beijing Internet Court (BIC) briefs on trials of copyright cases concerning digital education. [Photo/ Beijing Internet Court]

Zhao Ruigang, vice-president of the BIC, Zhang Lianyong head of the First Comprehensive Division and Vice-Presiding Judge of the First Comprehensive Division Zhu Ge attended the event.

According to the white paper, since the establishment of the court in September 2018 to December 2022, the BIC had handled more than 2,700 copyright cases in the digital education field, with plaintiffs mainly being publishers, education and training institutions, and teachers.

Infringement forms are diverse and hidden in such cases, said Zhao, who introduced that defendants mainly involved illegally use others' educational products through various channels such as selling, gifting, dubbing and online teaching.

Defendants anonymously provide or share the plaintiffs’ teaching materials, videos, recordings or handouts by using online channels, such as e-commerce platforms, education and training platforms, short video platforms, second-hand trading platforms, websites, online forums and chat apps. With the continuous development of emerging technologies, new forms of infringement triggered by new technologies and applications, such as reading pens, AI early education robots and audiobooks, continue to emerge. It can be expected that the number of related disputes will further increase, said Zhao.

Copyright infringement in the field of digital education occurs so frequently that it should be a focus of copyright governance in cyberspace, according to Zhao. The BIC will continue to strengthen coordinated governance with administrative organs and industrial associations, strive to reduce the occurrence of such infringement at the source, and promote the healthy and regulated development of the digital education industry, he said. He also urged those using online educational and e-commerce platforms to fulfill their obligation in qualification examination in accordance with the law, and to strengthen the management of content and users in order to prevent the occurrence of infringement.

BIC's head of the First Comprehensive Division Zhang Lianyong released eight typical cases on copyright protection in digital education. [Photo/ Beijing Internet Court]

Zhang released eight typical cases at the press conference, ranging from the determination of recording digital educational content as video products under protection, to quantifying actual losses by multiplying the unit price of goods by the number of customers.

Zhu Ge, vice-presiding judge of the First Comprehensive Division of the BIC answers media questions. [Photo/ Beijing Internet Court]

In the media Q&A session, Zhu shared the BIC's suggestions on how to avoid legal risks for parties in digital education, and how the BIC play its role in the copyright protection of digital education.