As I noted recently, a Beijing district court recently decided that live broadcasts of sports events can be protected under China’s copyright law (June 30, 2015).

Only a few weeks earlier, a US district court decided in CCTV et al vs. Create New Technology (HK) Ltd.  et al.  (June 11) (Case No. CV 15-01869 MMM (MRWx) (C. D. Cal) (Morrow, J). that the pirated streaming of live and time-shifted CCTV and TVB  (Hong Kong) channels  through media boxes  and apps on a peer-to-peer network and/or through servers in the United States to large numbers of users who had no right to access the content constituted copyright infringement.   The CCTV and content covered by the court’s preliminary injunction included live news, sports, and television.

The U.S. case underscores the availability to Chinese plaintiffs of strong civil remedies in the United States, including preliminary injunctions. Although Chinese courts normally dispose of first instance cases in six months, this case was filed on March 13, 2015 and the preliminary injunction was granted June 11 – precisely 90 days later, not including the end date.  In other words the preliminary injunction in this case was rendered in case involving foreign interests in less time than a Chinese court would have rendered its first instance decision in a domestic case (time frames are expanded if there is a foreign litigant).

Of about 90,000 civil IP cases in the Chinese courts in 2012, there were only  27 cases involving preliminary injunctions.  By contrast, US courts are, by all accounts, more willing to grant provisional relief of all kinds.  Judge Morrow, in her decision, noted that “unauthorized and uncompensated internet streaming that competes directly with the television programming of a  copyright owner and its authorized licensees causes harm that is ‘neither easily calculable, nor easily compensable.’ ”  She further stated that “given the extensive nature of the infringement alleged … it is unclear that defendants would be able to satisfy any damages award entered. This further supports the conclusion that injunctive relief is appropriate in this case.”

These two recent cases are positive steps in protecting broadcasts, including live sports broadcasts.  The U.S. case is also a good guide post for Chinese courts looking to extend the availability of provisional remedies in civil IP adjudication for foreigners and Chinese alike, including in cases involving online infringement and live broadcasts.