The Internet domain name was not cancelled after it expired, but it was actually infringed?

The company's Internet domain name expired and was no longer used. A few months later, it turned into a film and television website, providing online playback services for a large number of movie works. Finally, it was sued by others for infringement? The reason was that you didn't do it? Recently, the Liujiang District People's Court of Liuzhou City, Guangxi Province concluded a dispute case involving infringement of information network communication rights involving ICP (Internet Information Service) filing.

Tiantian Company (pseudonym) once registered the domain name of the website to promote the company's projects. After the contract expired, the company did not renew the domain name and stopped using it, thinking that it would be fine if it did not continue to use it. However, a few months later, Tiantian Company filed a lawsuit for not canceling the ICP registration booth after the website's domain name expired and was suspended.

It turned out that Green Leaf Company (pseudonym) discovered that a series of movie works under its name that enjoy the right to spread information online could be clicked and played at will on the website without legal authorization. After checking through the ICP/IP address/domain name information filing management system, the domain name is registered as Tiantian Company. Luye Company then sued Tiantian Company to stop the infringement and compensate for the losses.

Tiantian Company argued that it did not continue to use the domain name after it expired. When the alleged infringement occurred, it was not the actual operator of the website and should not bear infringement liability.

The court held that Tiantian Company did not continue to pay the domain name usage fee or redeem the domain name after the domain name involved in the case expired. Green Leaf Company's evidence collection time was 3 months after the domain name involved in the case expired. According to the change of the domain name owner provided by the third-party service provider, when Green Leaf Company obtained the evidence, the actual user or owner of the domain name involved in the case was no longer Tiantian Company. It was difficult to conclude that Tiantian Company had obtained the evidence after the right to use the domain name involved in the case expired, A website is still built through this domain name to provide the movies involved in the case.

In addition, when the infringement occurred, the domain name of the website involved in the case was "Ma Cinema", which was a video broadcasting website such as movies and TV dramas. It was inconsistent with the approved and registered business scope of Tiantian Company, and there was no introduction, promotion or promotion on the website involved in the case. Promote Tiantian Company and its business and other related content.

To sum up, based on the ICP filing information of the domain name involved in the case, it is not enough to conclude that Tiantian Company was the operator or controller of the website involved in the case at the time of the evidence collection. Luye Company failed to complete the evidence on Tiantian Company's actual operation and management of the website. Therefore, Luye Company's claim that Tiantian Company committed infringement and should bear corresponding responsibilities is not valid. In the end, the court ruled to reject Luye Company's claim.

the judge said

This case is a new type of infringement of the right to disseminate information on the Internet caused by the failure of enterprises to cancel the registration of registered domain names in time after they stopped using them. That is, some enterprises suspended their websites and stopped paying domain name fees after the domain name expired, but failed to cancel the ICP domain name registration. As a result, the domain name under its name was illegally used by others in subsequent circulation, causing legal risks to the enterprise.

What is "ICP Domain Name Registration"? -- According to the "Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services", the state implements a licensing system (ICP license) for commercial Internet information services; a filing system (ICP filing) for non-commercial Internet information services. No one may engage in Internet information services without obtaining permission or failing to fulfill filing procedures.

In addition, according to the provisions of Articles 15 and 26 of the "Measures for the Administration of Filing of Non-Commercial Internet Information Services", if a non-commercial Internet information service provider needs to terminate the provision of services within the validity period of the filing, it shall log in on the date of service termination. The filing system of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to perform the filing and cancellation procedures with the original filing authority. Those who fail to perform the filing change procedures within the specified time, or fail to perform the filing and cancellation procedures in accordance with the law, the Provincial Communications Administration Bureau where the residence is located shall order them to make corrections within a time limit and impose a fine of 10,000 yuan.

Therefore, if a company has decided to stop operating relevant websites, timely cancellation of the ICP domain name filing can better avoid legal risks and reduce unnecessary losses.

Author: Zhu Jiaxin