US studios win suit against DVD store
9 March 2007
Shanghai-based Leying, a shop selling pirated DVDs, has been ordered to pay RMB25,000 (US$3,230) to seven US movie companies, state media reported. The seven studios - Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Universal Studios, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures and Disney - originally sought damages of US$439,740 in Shanghai's No. 1 Intermediate Court. Leying, which was formerly known as the Kade Club, changed its name after it was exposed by a local newspaper in 2006 for selling pirated DVDs. The court had sent two summonses to the shop, but no representative from Leying showed up in court this week. Leying has allegedly been trading in pirated DVDs for years and its popularity among foreign visitors attracted the attention of the Motion Picture Association of America.