Taipei District Court yesterday ruled in favor of rapper Jeff Huang (
The case began in 2003 with a proposal by several legislators, including then Democratic Progressive Party legislators Chiu Yi-ying (
The amendment would have created a mechanism for artists to receive limited compensation for their work when downloaded by clients from legal Web sites, while operators would also have to pay a certain percentage of their profits to copyright holders.
PHOTO: CHEN YI-CHUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
At the time, Huang said that the compensation proposed in the amendment was "trivial," and that the Web sites were infringing on artists' intellectual property rights.
Then in 2005, after a not-guilty ruling by the court on the music download Web site ezPeer, Huang was furious.
He wrote a song called Retribution in which he named legislators and said they had been bribed by Web site operators and were "murdering" Taiwan's music industry.
In response to Huang's lyrics, Chiu and Chang last year decided to sue him for damage done to their reputations.
The verdict yesterday said Huang was not libeling them because his lyrics merely reflected his disagreement and anger over the situation.
However, the verdict also urged Huang to exercise caution because as a composer, the music or lyrics he produces may have a big impact.
The case can be appealed within 10 days.
Chiu and Chang yesterday said they will comment only after they receive the court's ruling in writing.
Huang did not show up at court for the verdict yesterday but said that he would continue to write as he saw fit in the future.
"I think people have taken note of my messages already. I will continue to write down what I think in my lyrics in the future," Huang said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
RSS