Chinese court fines Apple in iBook copyright infringement

BEIJING, April 25 (UPI) -- A Chinese court has ruled Apple must compensate three Chinese writers for making their books available in iBooks without first seeking their permission.

Apple has been ordered to pay $118,000 to the three authors for copyright infringement, SlashGear reported Thursday.

Although the books were apparently uploaded by third parties rather than by Apple, the court ruled Apple had a duty to ensure the uploads didn't breach copyright regardless of who uploaded them.

One of the writers involved in the lawsuit was Mai Jia, whose works often appear on best-seller lists in China.

The judge in the case said the ruling should serve as a warning to companies operating online stores to take measures to see that their uploading processes don't create similar litigation.