03 August 2005

Baidu IPO marred by piracy lawsuit

They should have called it "House of Flying Lawsuits".

Beijing New Picture Film Co, copyright holder for hit Chinese movie "House of Flying Daggers" have filed a suit against Baidu for allowing its user to download the film on a pay-per-view basis.

Last month, a near identical lawsuit was filed by a music company for a similar use of 53 songs without permission.

Downloads of video and MP3 material is a core part of Baidu's business model, and wranglings over copyright have put a dark shadow over Baidu's ability to generate revenue for prospective investors ahead of its IPO. Google already own 3% of the Chinese company - China's biggest search engine. Last year posted a profit of $1.5 million.

Rather more allarmingly for Baidu executives, new Chinese law now punishes such 'piracy' with as much as seven years in prison.


For more info, see:
www.bloomberg.com / apps / news?pid=10000080&sid=albAcNu9Ulo0

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