Beijing’s Intellectual Property Court has upheld a ruling against the operators of the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), a government-supported digital library similar to JSTOR, for distributing a literary work without authorization, Caixin reported Sunday. According to the terms of the initial judgment, the two entities behind CNKI’s website and app must pay a total of 10,000 yuan ($1,450) in damages and another 10,000 yuan in legal expenses to the China Written Works Copyright Society (CWWCS).

In July 2017, CWWCS, a nonprofit copyright watchdog, filed suit in a Beijing court, alleging that CNKI was illegally selling access to Wang Zengqi’s novel “Initiated Into Monkhood.” CWWCS originally sought 60,000 yuan in damages and legal expenses, but last December, a lower court ruled that CNKI’s operators only had to pay 20,000 yuan. Although both parties appealed, the Intellectual Property Court ultimately chose to uphold the initial verdict.

“I can only say, we respect the court’s judgment,” said the attorney for CWWCS, Chen Mingtao. (Image: VCG)