Chinese web giant Baidu sued over music downloads

Music industry giants Universal, EMI, Warner, Sony BMG and others have sued the Chinese web portal Baidu claiming that the website promote illegal downloads of copyrighted digital content using its features. Baidu’s vice president of marketing, Liang Dong confirmed this news: “We confirm that Baidu is being sued over alleged infringement of music copyright.”

However, the company did not reveal any details about these lawsuits levied against it. The music companies claim that Baidu.com makes it easier for the Chinese web users to search for and download copyrighted songs through their MP3 search engine. More players like Cinepoly, Go East, and Gold Label have also joined this lawsuit against the company.

However, Baidu says in their defense that their services only let the users search for content available unlocked on the internet. They do not host or let users download songs from their servers as such. They are currently discussing with various companies to develop a platform for sharing of legal music on the internet.

Baidu.com is one of the most popular search engines in China with reports claiming that 37.4 percent of web users in this country prefer it to other search engines. With Google and Yahoo! setting their eyes on the Chinese market, things are only going to get tougher for them.