(Yicai Global) July 9 -- Suning Sports, which has exclusive broadcasting rights for many domestic and foreign sports events in China, won its case for the unauthorized online airing of a game of the Chinese Football Super League in 2019 today, setting a precedent for the defense of intellectual property rights for sporting events in the country.

In a landmark judgement, the Hangzhou Internet Court ruled that the transmission by state-backed carrier China Telecom’s Zhejiang province and Hangzhou city branches as well as a unit of Zhejiang Radio & TV Group was an infringement on the copyright held by Suning Sports, current affairs outlet the Time Weekly reported.

Previously, it has been hard to determine whether the redistribution of online videos contravened the original streaming rights.

The defendants should pay the unit of Chinese retail giant Suning Holdings Group compensation of CNY500,000 (USD71,400), the court added.

Internet titan Sina lost a similar case against rival Ifeng.com for the alleged unauthorized rebroadcasting of a Chinese Super League game in 2015. The lawsuit was thrown out by the Beijing Intellectual Property Court as it was unable to determine who had copyright.

Nanjing-based Suning Sports, owner of video streaming website PPTV, broadcasts over 8,000 games a year. It is also the largest shareholder in Italian football club Internazionale Milano.

Editor: Kim Taylor