A Hangzhou music fan will stand trial for allegedly illegally downloading music files in what is believed to be the first court case of its kind on the mainland.
The Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court yesterday agreed to hear a case lodged in May by Hangzhou-based online music shop 5fad.com against the defendant, identified only by his surname Zhang. A trial date has not been set.
The defendant is in his early 30s and was videotaped by company investigators in April downloading at least five MP3 music tracks owned by 5fad.com at a local internet cafe.
The firm initially asked for 5,000 yuan in compensation, but later decided to drop the claim to one yuan, the amount it normally charges for five tracks.
Xu Zhihui, a lawyer for 5fad.com, said that despite the heavy financial losses inflicted by 'illegal' MP3 downloading, his client hesitated to pursue a legal case against the music fan for fear of a possible public backlash.
Mr Xu said that people such as the defendant were victims of illegal operations provided by some mainland search engines, which allow internet users to search for their favourite music tracks, listen to them and download them free without leaving the site.