(Yicai Global) April 7 -- Chinese internet behemoth Tencent’s video streaming arm and Douyin Group, the Chinese operator of multiple short video apps including TikTok, have agreed to share video content in a major step towards bringing to an end years of legal wrangling over intellectual property rights.

Douyin has been granted the network transmission and sub-licensing rights to Tencent Video’s long videos according to specific re-creation and distribution rules, the two parties said today. This means that users of Douyin’s platforms, which include Douyin, Xigua Video and Toutiao, can now cut short clips from Tencent Video’s long videos and post them.

The tie-up will guarantee the creation and dissemination of quality short videos, they said. It is not the first such content-sharing deal between video platform operators, as Beijing-based Douyin inked a similar one with iQiyi in July last year.

The new deal means Douyin and Tencent are trying to call a truce after years of being entangled in video IP lawsuits.

In October last year, a court determined that Douyin users had been uploading short clips of Tencent Video’s exclusive drama series, ‘Candle in the Tomb: The Worm Valley,’ without permission and fined the firm CNY32.4 million (USD4.7 million) for copyright infringement.

Douyin is obliged to manage its content, the Xi'an Intermediate People's Court said. The platform has infringed Tencent Video’s copyright as it has not effectively contained the spread of unauthorized videos. Douyin was ordered to take down all such videos and pay Shenzhen-based Tencent Video CNY32.4 million for economic losses, three times the original claim.

But Douyin has appealed, saying that the clips were uploaded by users and it is impossible for the firm to vet all user-generated content. Douyin’s business scope involves offering online information storage services and so it is by law not obliged to verify the content, it said. The platform has reminded its users to respect IP rights and asked them to delete the videos. Douyin has therefore fulfilled its obligations of notification and deletion and does not stand in breach of copyright laws.

Editor: Kim Taylor