Apple Appeals $84,000 Fine For Selling Pirated Chinese Encyclopedia

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If Apple accepts its $84,000 fine, it could pave the way for other parties to sue.
If Apple accepts its $84,000 fine, it could pave the way for other parties to sue.

Apple has appealed an $84,000 fine from a Chinese court that alleged it had profited from sales of a pirated encyclopedia that was sold through its App Store. The Cupertino company refuses to accept responsibility for the infringement and argues that it was nothing more than a store operator.

The Encyclopedia of China Publishing House sued Apple back in September after discovering that a pirated copy of its work was being sold through the App Store for iOS devices. Though Apple argued that it was not responsible for the infringement, the company still profited from its sales — as it does with every iOS app — and as such it was fined $84,000.

Shortly after the judgement was made, Apple told The Next Web: “The App Store offers customers in China access to an incredible selection of over 700,000 apps created by Apple’s developer community. As an IP holder ourselves, Apple understands the importance of protecting intellectual property and when we receive complaints, as we did in this case, we respond promptly and appropriately.”

It’s now appealing the decision, and it hopes to see the judgement overturned. You could argue that with the amount of cash Apple has on hand, it would be easier for the company to just pay the $84,000 fine. But there’s a big reason why Apple needs to see it overturned.

If it accepts the fine, it paves the way for other parties who have been a victim of copyright infringement through the App Store to file their own lawsuit against Apple. That could be the start of something nasty that Apple will surely try its hardest to avoid.

Source: Jinghua Times

Via: The Next Web

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