Chinese writers are targeting Apple's App Store, saying it is infringing on their copyrights by offering pirated e-book versions of their work.
A senior official of the China Written Works Copyright Society said on Monday that the organization "will do all it can" to support 22 writers' lawsuits accusing Apple of copyright infringement and demanding more than 23 million yuan ($3.6 million) in compensation.
"We have a strong team searching Apple applications that contain unauthorized book copies so we can get a general picture of the scale of the infringement," said Zhang Hongbo, deputy director-general of the organization.
"But it's just too many to count completely."
Zhang said his organizations of more than 500 writers will collect evidence of Apple's infringement on its members' copyrights and that it may disclose the information to the public and for administrative and legal authorities' action at appropriate time.
Apple's App Store provides paid and free software, including text and audio books, uploaded by third-party developers.
Insiders said all developers sign contracts with the company, which screens the contents of the applications and sells them, keeping 30 percent of the sales revenue. But there is no transparency in the amount of times an item has been downloaded.
【新闻快讯】“中国作家集体诉苹果”的相关案件已在北京市第二中级人民法院立案，作家们已于2011年12月、2012年1月和2012年2月先后三批向法院正式提起诉讼，目前已进入诉讼程序的作家已有13位、著作累计59部，索赔金额已累计达2300多万元。
家维权联盟曾三次发律师函，向苹果公司提出三个诉求：第一，要求苹果公司删除应用程序商店里被上架出售的盗版中文书籍；第二，要求苹果公司提供这些盗版书籍上传者的相关信息；第三，希望能和苹果公司面对面沟通此事。 但作家维权联盟发现，在今年2月发出第三封律师函后，苹果公司删掉了一部分盗版书籍程序。并回复邮件表示已部分删除了盗版书程序。可没过几天，被删除的部分盗版书程序又在应用程序商店里“复活”了。
在多家媒体曝光苹果公司涉嫌侵害中国作家著作权后,苹果中国公司媒体负责人发表官方声明称：“作为一家拥有知识产权的公司，我们理解保护知识产权的重要性，当我们接到投诉时我们会给予及时和恰当的回应。”
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