Free drama lands man in court

A man who broadcast TV dramas for free on his video websites was sentenced to three years in jail with a five-year reprieve for copyright infringement, the Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People's Court ruled on Tuesday.

The court said the 35-year-old, surnamed Wu, used to be technical director at a Sichuan-based science and technology company. From February last year, he registered several video websites for profit.

Without authorization from Hong Kong Television Broadcasts (TVB), he used illegal means to access TVB dramas and played them on his websites. He made a profit from advertising on these websites.

His illegal gains amounted to more than 300,000 yuan (US$43,000), the court said.

An investigation found that Wu had provided 685 dramas on his websites, viewed more than 47 million times.

The court said it had imposed a lenient penalty as Wu has returned part of his illicit gains and paid all his fines.