This case is a real civil‑criminal combined copyright piracy case selected in 2025 national typical IP cases released by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of China, arising from rampant unauthorized short‑drama re‑broadcasting on domestic internet platforms The infringer adopted a classic evasion strategy: registering multiple low‑asset shell companies under relatives’ and employees’ names for website ICP filing and corporate qualification display, while the real controlling party stayed completely hidden behind the corporate veil. The nominal shell entities possessed no independent technical team, no independent capital flow and no actual decision‑making power over platform operation, solely serving as legal facade for large‑scale copyright infringement.
The plaintiff, anonymized as Sunrise Media Co., Ltd., is a professional short‑drama production enterprise holding complete copyrights for more than 40 original hit short‑drama works. In early 2024, Sunrise Media’s daily online monitoring discovered an unlicensed paid short‑drama website gathering thousands of popular episodes, including the plaintiff’s core proprietary works. This pirate platform adopted membership recharge and single‑episode payment models to gain direct commercial profits from unauthorized re‑transmission. The public webpage footer only displayed business information of Shell Network Technology A Co., Ltd., a newly‑established light‑asset company with minimal registered capital, whose legal representative was a distant relative of the real perpetrator and took no part in daily platform management.
When the copyright holder first sent cease‑and‑desist letters to this nominal shell company, the defendant replied that it merely provided technical server space and bore no responsibility for uploaded content. After formal civil litigation was initiated, the defense further argued that only the filed shell entity should assume legal liability. During early case investigation, the shell company deliberately submitted incomplete corporate documents, transferred its small amount of bank capital and attempted corporate deregistration procedure, trying to avoid future compensation enforcement. Facing such obstruction, the plaintiff realized that suing only the publicly‑filed shell entity would lead to nominal judgment with no enforceable assets, which is a common pitfall for copyright right‑holders dealing with shell‑masked online piracy.
The judicial authority approved the plaintiff’s application for evidence preservation and court‑ordered evidence collection. Investigators reviewed multi‑dimensional evidence chains including domain name purchase records, backend server operation logs, third‑party payment settlement data, social‑group chat records and notarized webpage snapshots. Key evidence showed that domain‑name registration fees, cloud‑server rental expenses and platform operation costs were all paid from personal bank accounts of one natural person, Mr. Xie. All core technical personnel responsible for content uploading, backend maintenance and payment interface debugging reported directly to Mr. Xie. Shell Network Technology A Co., Ltd. only undertook formal ICP filing procedures; it never recruited technical staff, collected platform revenue or formulated any content operation strategy.
Based on the above evidence, the court applied corporate personality denial rules combined with Chinese Copyright Law and Civil Code joint‑tort provisions. The judgment confirmed that the shell company was merely a legal tool used to implement copyright infringement. Mr. Xie, as the actual controller, dominated all infringing decisions, capital investment and technical arrangement, so he shall bear primary joint civil and criminal liability. The nominal shell company also bore corresponding liability because it knew or should have known its business qualification would be used for piracy and still provided filing convenience. Several related auxiliary shell entities participating in fund transfer were also identified as joint tortfeasors.
In terms of case remedies, the court issued permanent injunction ordering immediate shutdown of the pirate short‑drama website. Considering large infringement scale, paid‑for‑profit mode and intentional evasion via shell corporate structure as aggravating circumstances, the court supported the plaintiff’s claim for punitive damages, awarding total compensation including economic loss and reasonable litigation costs. In the parallel criminal procedure, the actual controller was convicted of copyright infringement crime and received fixed‑term imprisonment together with substantial criminal fine. Partial shell‑company participants obtained administrative penalty from copyright administrative authorities.
This case delivers critical practical enlightenment for domestic and foreign copyright owners doing business in China. First, ICP filing entity information cannot be simply equated with actual infringing subject. Right‑holders must not only rely on public industrial‑and‑commercial registration information when preparing complaints or litigation materials. Second, claimants should actively apply for court‑ordered evidence collection covering payment records, server logs and domain‑name transaction documents, to build complete evidence chain for piercing shell‑company disguise. Third, during evidence notarization, preserve full background trace data instead of only capturing visible front‑end webpages. Once discovering asset transfer or company cancellation risk, file property preservation application in time to secure enforceable compensation.
For cross‑border copyright operators entering Chinese market, regular network monitoring, standardized electronic notarization and early evidence fixing are essential risk‑prevention measures. When facing multi‑shell masked piracy, identifying real controlling parties rather than pursuing empty‑asset nominal entities determines whether copyright relief can produce real economic effect.
1. Supreme People’s Procuratorate of China typical IP case release page: https://www.spp.gov.cn/zdgz/
2. National Copyright Administration of P.R.China official website: https://www.ncac.gov.cn/
3. China Copyright Protection Center official platform: https://www.ccopyright.com.cn
4. Supreme People’s Court of China judicial document public inquiry portal: https://wenshu.court.gov.cn/
