01
Factual background & dispute
- A data company collected licensed Mandarin recordings and registered its dataset.
- Another company offered a subset for download.
- The dispute concerned open access, licence restrictions and commercial investment.
02
Core issues & judicial focus
- Protection of publicly available datasets
- Open licences and business ethics
- The rebuttable evidential effect of registration
03
Judicial finding & holding
- The appellate court rejected trade-secret protection and compilation copyright.
- Use contrary to the open licence constituted unfair competition; the compensation outcome was upheld.
- Registration supported preliminary proof of interests and lawful sourcing, rather than conclusive exclusive ownership.
Dates & procedural record
- The case concluded and became effective; the appellate court upheld damages on an adjusted legal basis.
- The Beijing political and legal portal had already republished a judge’s explanation.
- Annual representative-case release, not the decision date or first report.
04
Practical risk implications
01Record licence versions, commercial restrictions, redistribution rights and training permissions.
02Review personal-information sourcing, copyright permissions and competitive interests separately.
03Keep original consents, processing-investment records and transfer history instead of relying solely on registration.