Apple has been hit with a fine in China after being found to have illegally distributed copywrited materials. China Daily reports that the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court ruled against Apple in a case brought by book writers claiming their works were being sold in Apple’s eBook store without their permission. The court determined that it was indeed Apple’s job to verify that works uploaded to its iOS book store for the iPhone and iPad were the property of the parties uploading them, and it fined Apple 730,000 yuan, or approximately $118,000, for its irresponsible verification policies.
“The writers involved this time include Mai Jia, whose books are often on bestseller lists across the country,” Judge Feng Gang said in his determination. “In this way, Apple has the capability to know the uploaded books on its online store violated the writers’ copyright.” The judge also issued a warning to other companies with similar digital book stores, stating that they should improve their verification systems or face similar fines.
