Comwave International Ltd. alleged to have violated the Fair Trade Law by improperly issuing warning letters regarding copyright infringements
Case:
Comwave International Ltd. alleged to have violated the Fair Trade Law by improperly issuing warning letters regarding copyright infringements
Key Words:
copyright, Internet fax, legitimate exercise of legal rights
Reference:
Fair Trade Commission Decision of August 15, 2001 (the 510th Commissioners' Meeting); Letter (90) Kung Yi Tzu No. 9003783-003
Industry:
Computer Software Services (7201)
Relevant Law:
Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law
Summary:
1. This case originated from a complaint by Digital United Inc. ("Digital") alleging that Comwave International Ltd. ("Comwave") sent letters to Digital's clients in late June 2000 and on 12 February 2001 in which Comwave claimed to be the holder of the copyright for an Internet fax system. The letters asserted that the Internet fax system used by Digital's clients was an infringement of the Comwave's copyright, and advised them to cease use of the Digital Internet fax system or face possible civil and criminal lawsuits. The complaint alleged that the content of the attorney letters sent out by Comwave lacked any basis in fact. The complaint also alleged that warning letters sent by Comwave contravened the Guidelines for the Review of Cases Involving Enterprises Issuing Warning Letters for Infringement on Copyright, Trademark, and Patent Rights prescribed by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). The complaint further alleged that the company's practice of sending out such letters constituted a real and serious disruption of the fair trading order and the legal rights and interests of the complainant in violation of the provisions of Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law (FTL). 2. Under the provisions of the Copyright Law, copyright holders seeking redress for infringements on their copyrights may file for public or private prosecution in criminal proceedings or file for compensatory damages in a civil proceeding and the plaintiff in such cases may request preliminary attachment or preliminary injunction. Thus there are ample remedies that copyright holders may follow to protect their rights. In some cases, the copyright holder may elect to send a warning letter to the violator. This is not prohibited under the FTL provided such action falls within the scope of the appropriate exercise of one's legal rights. 3. The content of the Comwave letter was as follows: "(1) Comwave is the holder of the copyright for the E-mail to fax and fax-to-fax Internet fax systems called "Ch'uan Hsun Wei Lung" (Mighty Data Transmission Dragon). This company developed these systems jointly in cooperation with the Institute for Information Industry (III) and has executed a complete and long-standing development contract with the III for the source codes and execution codes to the system operating software. (2) It has recently come to the attention of this company that your company is currently using an Internet fax system that infringes upon our copyright. As such, we have retained an attorney to notify your company of the infringement. We are willing to provide your company with a copy of our contract and the results of a comparison of the system operating software for your consideration. If your company is, in fact, infringing upon our copyright in any way, please immediately cease using. . . ." The content of this letter should be sufficient to allow the recipients to make a reasonable judgment as to whether or not there has been an infringement. Comwave had previously sent a letter on 13 March 2000 requesting that Digital cease sales of Internet fax systems product. Digital stated that the earliest of the lawyer letters in question received by their clients were sent on 20 June 2000. Thus, prior to sending out the attorney warning letters, Comwave had already notified Digital, so the letters were an appropriate exercise of its legal rights. 4. In summary, Comwave's actions in sending out the attorney warning letters with regard to copyright infringement cannot be considered a violation of the provisions of the FTL. Appendix: Comwave International Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 86951295 Digital United Inc.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 16602226 Summarized by Hung, Hsuan; Supervised by Lee, Wen-Hsiu