SHANGHAI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - A U.S. district court has

awarded Tencent ( TCTZF ) nearly $85 million in compensation

after finding that Taiwan-based TV box firm Unblock Tech and

other distributors violated copyrights of video content

developed by the Chinese tech giant.

The case, brought by units Tencent Penguin Film, Tencent

Computer System and Tencent Technology accused the defendants of

improperly copying, distributing and importing more than 1,500

of its shows including family drama "Little Days" and sci-fi

blockbuster "Three Body Problem".

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

handed down the judgement on Feb. 7.

Tencent ( TCTZF ), which operates production house Tencent Pictures

and Tencent Video did not respond to a request for comment.

Unblock Tech also did not respond to requests for comment.

"In the field of video content infringement, cross-border

infringement is the most difficult to restrain ... Tencent's ( TCTZF )

victory reflects their determination to combat such

infringement," said Vivian Toh, an analyst at TechTechChina.

In the past Tencent ( TCTZF ) has repeatedly sued TikTok and

Douyin-owner ByteDance for copyright infringement in Chinese

courts, accusing them of improperly using its programmes. The

firms have not disclosed if those suits have been resolved or

are still ongoing.