The Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court ordered Blizzard Entertainment, Chinese MMO operator The9, and two other parties to pay a fine of RMB 1.45 million ($212,413) to PC maker Founder Technology Group for copyright infringement.

Beijing-based FTG filed its copyright infringement suit against The9 and Blizzard in August 2007 alleging that the companies used five of its registered fonts for the Chinese edition of World of Warcraft without permission. The9 eventually recalled the game's installation discs later that year to address the typeface issue.

FTG's president Liu Xiaokun says his company originally sought compensation of RMB 408 million ($59.8 million), according to a report from local newspaper The Economic Observer translated by China-focused research firm JLM Pacific Epoch. The9, which ceased its World of Warcraft operations as of June 2009 when its licensed expired, has appealed the court's decision.

The court's fine is the latest in a series of issues World of Warcraft has faced in China since NetEase's takeover of the MMORPG's license and operations last year; the company's transfer of World of Warcraft to its servers required two months of downtime and an extended closed beta, which cost the company a significant amount to sustain without player revenue, according to analysts.

NetEase then found itself caught in a public power struggle between two of China's government regulators, the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) and the Ministry of Culture (MOC), as they argued over whether the company should shut down the game due to "gross violations". The agencies reportedly settled their differences and decided on a fine for the company.

Earlier this month, GAPP approved NetEase's license reapplication to operate The Burning Crusade, World of Warcraft's first expansion pack, in China, but only after the MMO operator temporarily suspended new registrations. Shortly after that news, NetEase revealed that its World of Warcraft director Li Riqiang resigned.