Copyright Infringement Claim Successful By Way Of Application

In the recent decision of Microsoft Corporation v Liu¹, the Federal Court granted Microsoft's application in part, finding that the respondent, Mr. Liu, had infringed Microsoft's copyright in five of its computer programs. Given the circumstances of the case, including the respondent's prior infringing activities, the Court awarded statutory damages of $10,000 per infringement and punitive damages of $50,000, for a total of $100,000.

Background

In this proceeding, Microsoft asserted that Mr. Liu had personally infringed its copyright in a number of computer programs by selling unlicensed copies to an investigator employed by Microsoft. Microsoft further asserted that Mr. Liu was also liable for infringement as he had authorized infringement by his co-worker, "Henry".