Yahoo! China has lost a lawsuit filed by 11 major record
companies in which it stood accused of playing music illegally and
allowing netizens to download tracks free of charge.
The Beijing Second Intermediary Court on Tuesday ordered Yahoo
China to pay 200,000 yuan (about US$27,200) in damages to the 11
companies, which include EMI, Warner Music, Sony BMG Music
Entertainment, and Universal Music Group.
In addition, Yahoo China must delete the links to the free
download websites.
The record companies launched the court proceedings in early
January, saying that the music had been played or downloaded
without their permission, and demanded 5.5 million yuan (about
US$712,000) in damages.
Yahoo China insists that, as a search engine, it only provides
links in its music search results and should not be held
responsible for the content of third-party websites.
The company issued a statement on line on Tuesday, saying the
company treats intellectual property rights protection very
seriously, and has always abided by Chinese law.
It also said search engines are used to quickly access and
present information that users need, and search engine operators
cannot foresee and control the content to which they provide
links.
It said the company will appeal for protection of its own legal
rights and also for the development of the whole industry.
Xu Yang, Yahoo China's publicity director, said "Baidu.com was
cleared of similar charges last year. If any mistake has been made,
Baidu made the same one. The argument in both cases is essentially
the same."
Last November, Baidu.com, one of China's largest internet search
engines, was found not guilty in a similar lawsuit launched by
seven companies that accused it of helping users to download music
illegally. That case was led by the International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
Beijing's First Intermediate Court ruled that Baidu's service,
which provides web links to the music, does not constitute an
infringement as all the music is downloaded from web servers of
third parties.
The record companies appealed to a higher court after losing the
lawsuit, but a ruling has yet to be made.
Baidu argued that the MP3 search engine it provided was the same
as other search engines providing links to web pages, news, and
pictures.
It said it searched all music file formats on the internet, such
as ".mp3" or ".wav", making no distinction between copyrighted and
pirated songs.
"If the music companies had won, the whole search engine sector
would have ground to a halt," a Baidu spokesman said at the
time.
Chinese online auction sites operator Alibaba took over Yahoo
Inc.'s China business in 2005, and Yahoo bought a 40 percent stake
in Alibaba.
(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2007)