Author Giddens Ko (柯景騰) on Tuesday said he did not pursue copyright infringement charges against Apple for approving apps allegedly using pirated content of his works.
Ko, better known as Jiubadao (九把刀 or “Nine Knives”), dismissed local media reports that said that he decided to drop all charges against Apple after having met with legal personnel at Apple’s headquarters in Hong Kong a day earlier.
“I did not pursue charges, so how on earth would I be able to drop them? What are those television reports saying? Didn’t they interview me only moments ago?” he wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday after watching local TV news channels.
Ko’s agent also clarified the situation, saying Apple has removed seven or eight apps reportedly containing pirated content of Ko’s works after the meeting in Hong Kong.
Ko, author and director of the popular film You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年,我們ㄧ起追的女孩), recently told media he has been filing complaints against Apple for the past two years because several apps on the company’s iTunes Store had infringed upon his copyrights.
However, the US technology giant had not taken the complaints seriously, he said.
The author said that Apple cited difficulty in discerning copyright as a reason for refusing to remove apps that allegedly violated his copyright. Ko added that he has filed an application with the iTunes Store to publish an app he developed with a publishing company to allow users to download 50 of his novels for free.
However, Apple declined his application, saying that that the description of the app was unclear and that it should be listed on iBooks, Apple’s platform for e-books, instead.
Ko’s agent said they were still negotiating with Apple for the app to be made available on the iTunes Store.
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from
The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final