Guiding Case No.223 Zhang Xlong v. Beijing Xdie Culture Communication Co., Ltd., Cheng X and Ma X (Case concerning a dispute over the infringement of the right of communication to the public on information networks)

Guiding Case No.223 Zhang Xlong v. Beijing Xdie Culture Communication Co., Ltd., Cheng X and Ma X (Case concerning a dispute over the infringement of the right of communication to the public on information networks)

指导案例223号 张某龙诉北京某蝶文化传播有限公司、程某、马某侵害作品信息网络传播权纠纷案

Court：Supreme People's Court

Instrument Type：Ruling

Source Note：SPC Gazette, Issue 2, 2024 (Total No. 330) Page 45-47

Category：Guiding Cases of the Supreme People’s Court

Procedural Status：Trial at First Instance

Source Document：Notice by the Supreme People's Court of Issuing the Thirty-Ninth Group of Guiding Cases

Date Issued：12-07-2023

Judgment Date：08-22-2022

Keywords:

civil action, infringe the right of communication to the public on information networks, jurisdiction, place of infringement

【关键词】

民事诉讼/侵害作品信息网络传播权/管辖/侵权行为地

Key Points of Judgment：

The place where the result of the infringement of an information network transmission right of a work occurs is uncertain and shall not be used as the basis for determining the jurisdiction. In determining the jurisdiction over cases of civil disputes over infringement of an information network transmission right of works, Article 15 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law to the Trial of Civil Dispute Cases of Infringement of an Information Network Transmission Right shall apply; that is, the people's court at the place where the infringement is committed or domicile of the defendant shall have jurisdiction.

【裁判要点】

侵害作品信息网络传播权的侵权结果发生地具有不确定性，不应作为确定管辖的依据。在确定侵害作品信息网络传播权民事纠纷案件的管辖时，应当适用《最高人民法院关于审理侵害信息网络传播权民事纠纷案件适用法律若干问题的规定》第十五条的规定，即由侵权行为地或者被告住所地人民法院管辖。

Basic Facts：

The plaintiff, Zhang Xlong, filed a lawsuit with the Qinhuangdao Intermediate People's Court, Hebei Province where he/she was domiciled on the grounds that the defendants, Beijing Xdie Culture Communication Co., Ltd., Cheng X, and Ma X published and used his/her copyrighted photo art works on the relevant websites without authorization and infringed the information network transmission right of his/her works. The defendant, Ma X, raised an objection to the jurisdiction of the case on the grounds that the jurisdiction should be determined in accordance with Article 15 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law to the Trial of Civil Dispute Cases of Infringement of an Information Network Transmission Right (the "Provisions on Information Network Transmission Right"), and Qinhuangdao City was the domicile of the plaintiff, but not the place where the infringement was committed or the domicile of the defendant, claiming that the case should be transferred to the Beijing Internet Court at the place where the infringement was committed and domicile of the defendant for trial.

【基本案情】

原告张某龙以被告北京某蝶文化传播有限公司、程某、马某擅自在相关网站上发布、使用其享有著作权的写真艺术作品，侵害其作品信息网络传播权为由，向其住所地的河北省秦皇岛市中级人民法院提起诉讼。被告马某以本案应当适用《最高人民法院关于审理侵害信息网络传播权民事纠纷案件适用法律若干问题的规定》（以下简称《信息网络传播权规定》）第十五条的规定确定管辖，秦皇岛市为原告住所地，不是侵权行为地或被告住所地为由，对本案管辖权提出异议，请求将本案移送侵权行为地和被告住所地的北京互联网法院审理。

Decision：

On June 2, 2021, the Qinhuangdao Intermediate People's Court, Hebei Province made the civil ruling ([2021] Ji 03 Zhi Min Chu No.27), deciding to reject the objection to jurisdiction raised by Ma X. Ma X refused to accept the ruling of first instance and filed an appeal. On August 24, 2021, the Hebei High People's Court made the civil ruling ([2021] Ji Min Xia Zhong No.66), deciding to revoke the ruling of first instance, and transfer the case to the Beijing Internet Court for trial. After examination, the Beijing Internet Court and the Beijing High People's Court found that it was improper for the Hebei High People's Court to transfer the case to the Beijing Internet Court for trial, and then reported the case to the Supreme People's Court for designation of jurisdiction. On August 22, 2022, the Supreme People's Court made the civil ruling ([2022] Zui Gao Fa Min Xia No.42), determining that the case shall be tried by the Beijing Internet Court.

【裁判结果】

原告张某龙以被告北京某蝶文化传播有限公司、程某、马某擅自在相关网站上发布、使用其享有著作权的写真艺术作品，侵害其作品信息网络传播权为由，向其住所地的河北省秦皇岛市中级人民法院提起诉讼。被告马某以本案应当适用《最高人民法院关于审理侵害信息网络传播权民事纠纷案件适用法律若干问题的规定》（以下简称《信息网络传播权规定》）第十五条的规定确定管辖，秦皇岛市为原告住所地，不是侵权行为地或被告住所地为由，对本案管辖权提出异议，请求将本案移送侵权行为地和被告住所地的北京互联网法院审理。

Reasons for the Decision：

The Supreme People's Court held that Article 25 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China provides that: "places where an infringement is committed through an information network include the location of information equipment including the computer used to commit the alleged infringement, while places where the infringement consequence takes place include the domicile of the infringed person." The "infringement committed through an information network" mentioned in such provision targets the infringement of general civil rights committed through an information network. However, the "information network transmission right" is the legal right enjoyed by the copyright owner stipulated in Paragraph 1 of Article 10 of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China, namely "the right to make a work available to the public by wired or wireless means so that the public can access the work at a place and time of their choice". Based on the nature and characteristics of the information network transmission right, once the infringement of the information network transmission right occurs, it will lead to the result that "the public can access the work at a place and time of their choice", and the geographical scope involved in the infringement is uncertain. Therefore, Article 15 of the Provisions on Information Network Transmission Right stipulates that: "civil disputes over the infringement of an information network transmission right shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court at the place where the infringement is committed or where the defendant is domiciled. The place where the infringement is committed includes the location of the equipment such as network server and computer terminal used to commit the alleged infringement. Where it is difficult to determine both the place where the infringement is committed and the domicile of the defendant or they are outside China, the location of the equipment such as computer terminal where the infringing content is discovered by the plaintiff may be regarded as the place where the infringement is committed." Therefore, Article 15 of the Provisions on Information Network Transmission Right is a special provision on the jurisdiction over civil cases concerning disputes over the infringement of an information network transmission right, which is a specific civil right. In determining the jurisdiction over cases concerning civil disputes over the infringement of an information network transmission right, Article 15 of the Provisions on Information Network Transmission Right shall be taken as the basis.

In the case, Qinhuangdao City was the domicile of the plaintiff, but not the place where the infringement was committed or the domicile of the defendant stipulated in Article 15 of the Provisions on Information Network Transmission Right. The case was not involved in the exception stipulated in Article 15 of the Provisions on Information Network Transmission Right that " it is difficult to determine both the place where the infringement is committed and the domicile of the defendant or they are outside China". Therefore, the Qinhuangdao Intermediate People's Court, Hebei Province had no jurisdiction over the case, and it was proper for the Hebei High People's Court to transfer the case to the Beijing Internet Court.

【裁判理由】

原告张某龙以被告北京某蝶文化传播有限公司、程某、马某擅自在相关网站上发布、使用其享有著作权的写真艺术作品，侵害其作品信息网络传播权为由，向其住所地的河北省秦皇岛市中级人民法院提起诉讼。被告马某以本案应当适用《最高人民法院关于审理侵害信息网络传播权民事纠纷案件适用法律若干问题的规定》（以下简称《信息网络传播权规定》）第十五条的规定确定管辖，秦皇岛市为原告住所地，不是侵权行为地或被告住所地为由，对本案管辖权提出异议，请求将本案移送侵权行为地和被告住所地的北京互联网法院审理。

Pertinent Legal Provisions：

Article 29 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China

Articles 24 and 25 of the Interpretations of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China

Article 15 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law to the Trial of Civil Dispute Cases of Infringement of an Information Network Transmission Right

【相关法条】

《中华人民共和国民事诉讼法》第29条

《最高人民法院关于适用〈中华人民共和国民事诉讼法〉的解释》第24条、第25条

《最高人民法院关于审理侵害信息网络传播权民事纠纷案件适用法律若干问题的规定》第15条