China probes 160 criminal cases of online copyright infringement

BEIJING - A total of 450 cases of online copyright infringement and piracy were handled amid a national campaign, including 160 criminal ones involving 524 million yuan ($75.07 million).

About 1.1 million website links to pirated content were removed and nearly 11 million pirated products were confiscated during the campaign, said the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) Thursday.

More than 30 major cases of illegal recordings of cinema films were investigated, involving 230 million yuan. Over 200 suspects were detained, and 418 websites and apps were shut down for broadcasting pirated content.

During the campaign, authorities severely cracked down on the unauthorized reproduction of media outlets' news products, and strengthened the supervision of copyright in the picture and streaming media markets.

The administration released a list of 67 key works for copyright protection, including the movie "The Wandering Earth." A supervision mechanism for pirate websites and apps was established by the administration, and more than 30,000 pieces of information involving pirated movies were deleted.

The "Sword Net 2019" campaign was initiated in April by the NCAC, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security, targeting copyright infringement on the Internet.