In recent years, the pop music market has been booming, and copyright protection issues have also attracted significant attention from the industry.

The Intermediate People's Court of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, has made a first-instance judgment in a copyright infringement dispute involving multiple songs, including "The Road Is Always There." This case has garnered widespread attention in the music community.

The court ruled that Migu Music Co., Ltd. provided the public with the online playback and download services of nine songs, including "The Road Is Always There" and "Solitary Animal," without permission. This action infringed upon the right to disseminate these works through information networks held by the lyricist Wu Xiangfei. The company was ordered to compensate Wu Xiangfei for economic losses and reasonable expenses totaling 115,000 yuan and to publish a statement to mitigate the impact.

Unauthorized Provision of Songs Leads to Disputes

Since 2021, musician Wu Xiangfei has discovered that the well-known music platform Migu Music has provided online playback and download services for the involved musical works that he wrote the lyrics for, without his authorization.

In December 2022, Wu Xiangfei sued Migu Company, the operator of Migu Music, to the Intermediate People's Court of Chengdu, on the grounds of infringement of the right to disseminate through information networks and the right to be named. He requested the court to order Migu Company to compensate him for economic losses of 1.4 million yuan and reasonable expenses of 58,000 yuan. He also requested the court to order the defendant to publicly apologize to him and compensate him for one yuan in mental damages.

Migu Company's Defense

In response to the plaintiff's lawsuit, Migu Company acknowledged that it had provided the playback and download of the involved musical works on its platform, and that users could view the lyrics content and other related facts. Migu Company argued that to avoid infringement, it had established a relatively complete music copyright introduction and review mechanism. It managed copyrights through various forms, such as signing content cooperation agreements with music content providers.

Moreover, there is a realistic situation where a single song may have multiple copyright holders, and the rights review is difficult. Copyright issues are relatively complex, and the review difficulty is high. Migu Company has fulfilled its basic copyright review obligations and does not have the intention to infringe maliciously. The involved musical works were not directly uploaded by Migu Company, but were provided and uploaded by Emperor Music Entertainment Consulting (Beijing) Co., Ltd. Migu Company did not have the intention to infringe. The plaintiff's claim for a public apology and compensation for mental damages is not reasonable.

First-Instance Judgment Finds the Platform Liable for Infringement

Regarding the lawsuit between Wu Xiangfei and Migu Company, after the Intermediate People's Court of Chengdu accepted the case, it held a public hearing.

On the determination of the alleged infringing acts, the court found that:

Court's Decision

After reviewing the case, the Intermediate People's Court of Chengdu determined that the defendant company's actions constituted infringement. Therefore, it supported the plaintiff's claims for compensation for economic losses and a public apology. However, regarding the plaintiff's claim for compensation for mental damages, the current evidence in the case does not prove that the plaintiff has suffered mental harm. Therefore, this claim is not supported.

Determination of Compensation Amount

The court determined the compensation amount based on factors such as the type, quantity, nature, manner, duration, and consequences of the infringing acts of the involved musical works. The court ordered the defendant company to compensate Wu Xiangfei for economic losses and reasonable expenses totaling 115,000 yuan.