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Intellectual Property and Commercial Court

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2014 Min Zhu Shang Yi Zi No. 6

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Decision No. 2014 Min Zhu Shang Yi Zi No. 6
Date April 24, 2015
Decision Highlight

The appellant had licensed the appellee to exploit the computer karaoke machine, and the appellee should pay the remuneration of NTD 5250 per year for exploitation. However, the appellee did not renew the contract after the expiry date of Oct. 31, 2012 and continued to use the computer karaoke machine. The appellant requested the appellee to renew the contract by letter on Dec. 7, 2012. The request was ignored by the appellee. On Apr. 20, 2013, the appellant went in person to the appellee’s business firm to gather evidence, finding that the appellee is still using and infringing the appellant’s copyright. The appellant requested the appellee to reprocess the license again on May 14, 2014. The appellee finally made a remittance on Jun. 4, 2014. Since the appellee had not been licensed and kept using the computer karaoke machine from Nov. 1, 2012 to May 31, 2014, the appellant’s copyright was infringed. There are two reasons why it is not admissible the appellant’s assertion that his damages should be calculated by 11 times of the yearly compensation for the license. One is that the appellant only received 11 musical works from the appellee’s karaoke machine as evidence and there was the other musical works that didn’t belong to the appellant’s licensed work. Another is that the period during which appellee was without license only lasted for 7 months, instead of a full year as was in the original contract. Considering the appellant’s cost on gathering evidences, the Court thought it would be reasonable that the appellant’s damages be calculated by 3 times of the yearly compensation for the license. According to Article 88 Paragraph 3 of the Copyright Act, the Court determined that the appellee shall pay the appellant NTD 15,750 as compensation for the appellant’s damages.

Keywords

Right Of Public Performance, Copyright Collective Management Organizations

Relevant statutes Article 26, Article 88 Paragraph 3 of the Copyright Act
  • Release Date:2020-11-13
  • Update:2020-12-03
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