China’s Baidu Wins Copyright Case Over Labels
Jan 27, 2010 - By Jeffrey Hyatt
A Chinese court has ruled that the nation’s top search engine Baidu is cleared of copyright infringement in their dispute with the music industry.
The case was launched in 2008 by Universal Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment Hong Kong and Warner Music Hong Kong; the labels charged Baidu with offering ‘deep links’ to thousands of copyright-protected songs on third-party websites.
The three music companies were seeking $9 million in damages.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) was disappointed with the ruling that cleared the search engine of any wrongdoing in the alleged copyright case. The IFPI might seek further action against Baidu.
“The judgments in the Baidu and Sohu/Sogou cases are extremely disappointing, and we are considering our next steps,” the IFPI said in a statement.
“The verdicts do not reflect the reality that both operators have built their music search businesses on the basis of facilitating mass copyright infringement, to the detriment of artists, producers and all those involved in China’s legitimate music market.”
Another site, a Chinese portal and search provider known as Sohu, was also cleared by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court.
According to a post on the JLM Pacific Epoch website, the label’s infringement case against Baidu fell through because the plaintiffs failed to identify sites hosting unauthorized music downloads, the report said quoting lawyer Sun Yan.
Baidu is China’s largest search engine, with close to 60% market share.