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An Obscure 1930s Movie Could Lead To Apple Losing Access To The Largest Market In The World

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Eric Lieberman Managing Editor
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The Chinese government is suing Apple over accusations the tech company allowed the broadcasting of an exclusive film.

The State Administration of Press, Publication,R adio, Film and Television (SARFT), a government agency that oversees state-sponsored enterprises and copyrighted content, is taking legal action because the tech giant permitted access to the film “Xueblo Dixiao.” The title roughly translates to “Blood-Splatter our Strong Enemies,” according to Yahoo.

The movie was produced in 1994 and is a fairly random patriotic film about a 1930s Chinese doctor who opens a hospital while simultaneously combatting Japanese occupying forces.

The film was not available directly on an Apple product, but users could download Youku Tudou, “the Youtube of China”, through Apple’s online store. Youku Tudou is also part of the litigation.

This is just one of the many spats between the world’s biggest country and one of the world’s biggest companies. China prohibited Apple’s iBooks and iTunes Movies services in April only a half of a year after they were launched.

Apple no longer has the sole rights to the name “iPhone” after a Beijing court in May shut down an appeal to stop Xintong Tiandi Technology, a leather-goods manufacturer, from using the name for their products.

Not long after, Beijing’s intellectual property agency ruled that Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus infringed a design patent of Shenzhen Baili, a Chinese smartphone producer.

China’s market accounts between 16 percent to 25 percent of Apple’s total sales, according to CSI Market and Forbes respectively.

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Tags : apple china
Eric Lieberman