Blockchain data accepted as evidence in legal complaint filed by short video app Douyin

Hit Chinese short video app Douyin, operated by Beijing-based Bytedance, has used the newly-established Beijing Internet Court to file a copyright infringement law suit against Baidu’s Huopai Video platform

The court announced on Monday that it would hear the case and will recognise evidence stored on blockchain, a first in the country’s video streaming industry.

Douyin is seeking compensation of around 1 million yuan (US$145,600) from Huopai for unauthorised operation and downloads of a short video in May.

Spokeswomen from Bytedance and Baidu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Douyin requested a third-party company, Beijing Zhongjing Tianping, to store evidence on blockchain relating to the content Huopai had allegedly published illegally, according to Chinese-language law magazine People’s Rule of Law.

China’s internet courts now accept and process internet-related legal cases online, according to a ruling by the Supreme People’s Court. Beijing internet Court, launched on Sunday, said it had already received 207 legal complaints as of 6pm Monday. Hangzhou internet Court, China’s first internet court, was launched last August.

Last Friday, China’s Supreme People’s Court ruled that internet courts would recognise blockchain data as one form of digital evidence.