A U.S. district court has awarded Tencent nearly $85 million in damages after ruling that Taiwan-based TV box company Unblock Tech, along with other distributors, violated the Chinese tech giant’s copyrights. The court determined that the defendants had illegally copied, distributed, and imported over 1,500 pieces of Tencent’s video content, including popular titles such as the family drama Little Days and the sci-fi hit Three Body Problem.
The lawsuit, filed by Tencent’s subsidiaries Tencent Penguin Film, Tencent Computer System, and Tencent Technology, accused the defendants of engaging in the unlawful distribution of its copyrighted works.
The ruling was issued on February 7 by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Both Tencent, which owns Tencent Pictures and Tencent Video, and Unblock Tech did not respond to requests for comment on the verdict.
Vivian Toh, an analyst at TechTechChina, commented on the significance of the case, stating, “In the realm of video content infringement, cross-border violations are particularly difficult to address. Tencent’s victory underscores its commitment to tackling such infringements.”
Tencent has previously taken legal action against ByteDance, the owner of TikTok and Douyin, for copyright infringement in Chinese courts, alleging the improper use of its programs. However, it remains unclear whether those lawsuits have been resolved or are still pending.
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