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Chinese authors suing Apple increase in number, target cash amount

In January of 2012, TUAW reported on a group of nine Chinese authors who were banding together to sue Apple for allegedly hosting pirated copies of their literary works through apps in the App Store. At that time, the nine authors were asking for total compensation in the range of US$1.88 million.

Now, Physorg.com is reporting that the group, which calls itself the Writers Rights Alliance, has increased in size to a dozen authors who have raised the stakes to 23 million yuan, or about $3.5 million.

When TUAW first covered the story, there were 37 works that were covered in the lawsuits. The authors alleged that Apple was hosting the pirated books on the App Store and when discovered, Apple refused to remove the books, saying that there was little or no evidence that the works were pirated.

The authors complained that in some cases, over a million copies of the pirated works were downloaded without the rightful copyright owners ever receiving any compensation. Once the pirated works were finally removed from the App Store, new bogus copies often popped up.

Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu responded to the latest lawsuit, saying that "As an IP holder ourselves, we understand the importance of protecting intellectual property and when we receive complaints we respond promptly and appropriately." TUAW will continue following this story as it develops.

[via M.I.C. Gadget]