Music giants sue China's Baidu over music downloads

HONG KONG : Music giants Universal, EMI, Warner, Sony BMG and their local subsidiaries are suing Chinese search engine Baidu for allegedly infringing the copyright of hundreds of songs, a press report said Friday.

They allege the search service makes it easy for users to download illegal copies of their songs, the Standard newspaper reported, citing a source close to the music companies.

Cinepoly, Go East and Gold Label are also suing Baidu in a move that could force it to shut down its MP3 search engine, a key to the company's popularity among young Chinese internet users, the report said.

In a statement cited by the newspaper, the Chinese company said it "acknowledges the litigation in question" but as a matter of course, it does not comment "on specific litigation already (in) legal proceedings."

The group insisted it "has always been an advocate of improving copyright protection on the internet and has been in discussion with relevant parties."

Although the music companies are seeking compensation, what they most want is the suspension of services that allow internet users to gain free access to copyrighted material, the newspaper said.

As internet usage soared in Asia in recent years, the music industry's revenue has fallen dramatically, largely due to MP3 downloads from unauthorised sources.

Liang Dong, Baidu's vice president of marketing, was reported to have met several music company executives Wednesday to discuss copyright issues and the outcome of the meeting was "positive", the source said, adding the goal was to "cooperate and make a platform for legal music downloads."

The company's stock sale in August was one of the year's hottest initial public offering whose value surged 354 percent with some analysts nicknaming it the "Chinese Google".

Chinese music company Shanghai Busheng Music Culture Media also filed a lawsuit against Baidu in June alleging unauthorised downloads.

There has been a growing concern among investors over the company's prospects. Its shares dropped 28 percent in New York Wednesday after two analysts warned the stock was seriously overvalued. - AFP /ct