As Apple battles it out on several fronts in China, some legal experts say the tech giant may be able to successfully defend itself in this case with Chinese writers. There's a safe harbor provision in Chinese copyright law that is meant to encourage the development of the tech industry, which Apple may evoke.

Apple may have found a safe harbor in Chinese copyright law to avoid punishment over the latest unauthorized book dispute with Chinese writers.

Legal experts say the provision enables companies to avoid paying even if charged with copyright infringement.

However, some say the provision benefits the industry as a whole.

Zhang Ping, professor of Peking University's law school said: "The safe harbor provision was first introduced by the 'Digital Millennium Copyright Act' in the U.S. Then it was adopted by some other countries, including China. With a booming internet industry, companies cannot always avoid the risk of copyright violations. So we provide a safe harbor for them to get out of potential charges in some cases, so the industry can develop faster without certain obstacles."

But in most cases and in China, companies attempting to use the safe harbor rule must satisfy several conditions.

If the company can prove that it was providing a content sharing or storage platform, were not aware of the piracy, and did not make any profit off the disputed item, they can avoid charges by deleting the content.

Apple would have to satisfy all of the above to avoid a penalty under Chinese copyright law.

Zhang Hongbo, deputy director general of China Written Works Copyright Society said: "First, Apple definitely knew that the content uploaded was pirated. Second, Apple made profit on the uploads -- Apple took 30 percent of the profit while the content providers got the rest. So Apple does not fulfill the safe harbor requirements."

Legal experts say that the safe harbor provision was originally established to smooth the development of China's tech industry, but they warn that it runs the risk of being abused.

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