Defendant Sentenced To Three Years in Prison in FRIENDESS Copyright Infringement Case

On August 3, 2022, the Minhang District People's Court of Shanghai heard the case of FRIENDESS copyright infringement, and publicly pronounced on August 8 that the defendant Wang was guilty of copyright infringement and sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of RMB. 200,000 yuan, and ordered the defendant Wang to refund the victim's economic losses.

At the beginning of 2021, FRIENDESS discovered that the defendant Wang sold pirated CypNest software without authorization through the Internet, and immediately organized the collection of illegal and criminal evidence and reported the case to the Minhang District Public Security Bureau. In October 2021, the defendant Wang was successfully arrested and confessed to the crime.

The Minhang District People's Court held that: Wang, for the purpose of making profits, copied and distributed his computer software works without the permission of the copyright owner, committed the crime of intentional copyright infringement, and the illegal business volume reached more than 250,000 yuan. The circumstances were particularly serious. Wang was sentenced to three years in prison, fined 200,000 yuan, and repaid the victim's economic losses.

In the follow-up process, FRIENDESS found that Wang was selling pirated software that had been cracked down in 2020. FRIENDESS upgraded the software immediately after the discovery, which minimized the use of the software by customers. Therefore, this is not the first time that FRIENDESS has cracked down on piracy. Before that, FRIENDESS has severely cracked down on several batches of infringing gangs through legal means.

At the beginning of 2020, FRIENDESS discovered that the defendant Liu and others had sold pirated CypNest software without authorization through the Internet, and immediately organized the collection of illegal and criminal evidence and reported the case to the Minhang District Public Security Bureau. In June 2020, the defendant Liu and others were all arrested and brought to justice, and the crime tools and pirated infringing products were seized at the scene. After arriving at the case, the defendant confessed to the crime. As a result, it was found that the defendants Liu and Li were both guilty of copyright infringement, and each was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison, one year and eight months of probation, and each was fined RMB 90,000.

From March to September 2021, the defendant Deng sold pirated CypNest software without authorization from FRIENDESS. FRIENDESS immediately organized the collection of criminal evidence and reported the case to the Luotian County Public Security. In September 2021, the defendant Deng voluntarily surrendered and truthfully confessed the facts of the crime. In the end, Deng was sentenced to 2 years in prison, suspended for 3 years, fined 70,000 yuan, and confiscated his illegal gains.

For infringements, piracy and other illegal acts, FRIENDESS stated that it will firmly and unrelentingly use legal weapons to defend the rights and interests of enterprises. At present, the company has established a complete and strict intellectual property protection system. Once the sales and use of pirated copies are discovered, the company will zero Strictly strike with tolerance.