Yahoo China Target of Music Industry Lawyers
Yahoo China has become the expected target of a copyright infringement lawsuit as record companes are preparing to take on the second largest search engine in China (according to Bloomberg).
Bloomberg News reports that the Alibaba.com operated Yahoo China provides links within its portal to illegally copied and distributed content which is housed on non-Yahoo sites.
From Bloomberg :
About 90 percent of all recordings in China are illegal, with sales of pirated music worth about $400 million annually.
Seven record labels comprising EMI, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group Corp., Go East Entertainment Co., Gold Label Entertainment Ltd. and Cinepoly Records Co. last year filed a civil suit against Baidu.com Inc., China’s most-used search engine.
“We’ve started the process and as far as we’re concerned we’re on a track to litigation,” John Kennedy, chairman of the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry, said in a telephone interview from Beijing. “If negotiation can prevent that, then so be it.”
Apparently the same recording labels are also in the middle of a civil lawsuit with Baidu, which has yet to be settled by either side.
