MUMBAI: A Chinese court has ordered tech giant Apple Inc to pay 1.03 million yuan ($165,000) to eight Chinese writers and two companies who alleged that unlicensed copies of their work were distributed through Apple's online store.

The Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court ruled that Apple violated the writers' copyrights by allowing applications containing their work to be distributed through its App Store. Eight Chinese writers who formed the China Written Works Copyright Society (CWWCS) will attain compensation from the company.

Agency reports state that the writers had seen applications that contained unlicensed electronic versions of their books available for download last year.

Unlicensed copying of books, music, software and other products is widespread in China despite repeated government promises to stamp out violations.

In November, a court ordered Apple to pay 520,000 yuan ($84,000) to the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House for copyright infringement in a separate case. Reports state that Apple will be appealing in the case after the holiday break is over.