Nine person gang sentenced to death, Shanghai's first case of pirated "script killing" copyright infringement sentenced to typesetting | script | copyright

With the rapid development of offline "script killing" stores, pirated scripts are frequently appearing, bringing great negative impacts to the industry. The Shanghai public security organs have dug up an industry chain for printing and selling pirated scripts and boxed scripts, led by Su and Lin, through online inspections and tracing the source.

This is the first copyright infringement case of pirated "script killing" in Shanghai.

The pictures in this article are all provided by the Third Branch of the Shanghai Municipal People's Procuratorate.

The reporter from Pengpai News learned from the Third Branch of the Shanghai People's Procuratorate that the case was sentenced on June 25th. The Third Intermediate People's Court of Shanghai adopted all the criminal facts and sentencing suggestions accused by the Third Branch of the Shanghai People's Procuratorate, and sentenced Su to four years and six months in prison and a fine for the crime of copyright infringement. He was also punished for several crimes, including illegal manufacturing and sales of registered trademark logos. He was sentenced to six years in prison and a fine; Sentence Lin to four years imprisonment and a fine; Sentenced 7 individuals including Yang and Bao to imprisonment ranging from two to one year, with probation and a fine. All 9 defendants in this case voluntarily pleaded guilty and pleaded guilty.

Production and sale of pirated "script killing" boxed scripts involving nearly 8 million yuan

According to the Third Branch of the Shanghai People's Procuratorate, in May 2021, Su and Lin discovered that the "script killing" store was booming, and the script for "script killing" did not worry about sales. So the two decided to collaborate on the sale of pirated "script killing" scripts. Su purchased a genuine script online, and the two scanned and typeset it in an internet cafe, then commissioned someone else to print and package it, selling it to the public at a much lower price than the genuine version. Not long after, Su and Lin, who began to make profits, purchased scanning and printing equipment and established a printing company for 1:1 printing.

With the expansion of business scale, in order to facilitate the printing, storage, and sales of pirated products, the two rented five locations as production, storage, and operation sites. Su is responsible for recruiting personnel, purchasing genuine "script killing" boxed scripts, and managing the scanning, typesetting, and sales processes. Lin is responsible for managing the printing, packaging, and shipping processes. The two of them successively hired 7 people, including Yang and Bao, to be responsible for scanning, typesetting, printing, and sales.

The above personnel have produced over 130 types of pirated "script killing" boxed scripts, including "Call", "Make Money", "Knife Holder under the Moonlight", and "Growth Ring". A large number of low-priced pirated scripts are sold to various distributors through online platforms, or directly shipped to various parts of the country through a "one piece shipping" model. At this point, an orderly division of labor and integrated production and sales of pirated "script killing" boxed script industry chain has been formed.

In September 2022, 9 people including Su, Lin, Yang and Bao, who were employed by them, were seized by the Shanghai public security authorities, and 9 suspect confessed to the above criminal facts when they arrived.

After auditing, Su and Lin sold pirated "script killing" boxed scripts to the public through personal WeChat, online stores and other platforms, totaling more than RMB 4.75 million. The public security organs have seized 97 types of unsold "script killing" boxed scripts in their production and storage facilities, totaling more than 40000 boxes, with a pending sales amount of over 3.2 million yuan.

The procuratorial organs establish a case handling team and specialize in handling special cases

This case, as the first pirated "script killing" copyright infringement case in Shanghai, has attracted widespread social attention due to factors such as the huge amount of money involved and the large number of people involved. The Third Branch of the Shanghai Procuratorate fully considers the attention and influence of the case, and immediately forms a professional intellectual property case handling team in the early stage of case acceptance, with Deputy Prosecutor Tan Xinyou as the team leader and dedicated to handling the case. Under the leadership of the team leader, the case handling team conducted research and judgment on professional issues related to copyright infringement in this case, fully listened to the opinions of rights holders and defense counsel, and promoted the improvement and efficiency of prosecutorial work.

This case involves more than 100 kinds of "script killing" boxed scripts, and it is impossible to find all the copyright owners in a short time. The judicial authority finally determined that the amount of crime in this case was more than 7.95 million yuan by verifying the huge difference between the price of the genuine script on the authorized website and the price of the pirated boxed script involved in the case, the authorization statement issued by some obligees, and the confession of each suspect.

On the day of the trial, the Third Branch of the Shanghai Procuratorate organized the "Procuratorial Open Day" activity, inviting representatives of the National People's Congress, experts and scholars, copyright bureaus and other people from all walks of life to remotely watch the trial of this case through video live streaming. The Third Branch also held the "Procuratorial Open Day" activity to enhance the transparency of the work of the procuratorial organs, showcase procuratorial work, and increase publicity on intellectual property protection.