Information Technology News
- Baidu in online music deal with EMI
Date: 19-Jan-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
EMI Group Plc., which lost a copyright infringement lawsuit against Baidu.com Inc., will drop its appeal and work with the Chinese Internet search site to win advertising by offering free online samples of its music.
Baidu will sell online ads for a section of its Web site featuring streaming samples of EMI's Chinese-language music, Baidu said Tuesday. EMI and Baidu will share the ad revenue, they said, without providing details.
The agreement with Baidu may help London-based EMI boost sales in China. EMI, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and other companies have been in talks with Yahoo Inc.'s China unit on ways to distribute music in the country, while guarding against piracy.
'A traditional business of making people pay for music downloads is not going to work in China,'' Florian Pihs, assistant vice president at Beijing-based research company Analysys International, said. 'Using music to attract users has more potential.''
Baidu and EMI will also explore the establishment of a music-download service that is free for users and generates revenue through advertising, Baidu said. EMI is also talking to other Chinese Internet companies about similar partnerships, Michael Hwang, chairman of the record company's China unit, told reporters at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
State-owned Shanghai Media Group signed an agreement to sell EMI music over the Internet and phone networks in November 2006.
EMI is planning to drop out of an infringement lawsuit brought against Baidu by record companies on claims the Web site violated copyright by offering links to illegally copied music on non-affiliated sites. The suit was filed in September 2005 by companies including EMI, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group.
A Beijing court ruled in November that Baidu had not infringed on copyright because it provided online links and not direct downloads of pirated music. The International Federation of Phonographic Industry, which represented the record companies in the case, said it would appeal the ruling. EMI's Hwang said Tuesday that his company wouldn't take part in the appeal.
Yahoo China began talks with record companies after the music federation threatened to sue the Web site last July because it offers links to illegally copied music on non-affiliated sites.
An Internet company could still be sued and lose an infringement case in China for providing links because the nation's legal system is not based on case law and legal precedents, according to Jasper Zhang, a partner at Zhong Lun Law Firm in Shanghai.
Baidu had a 57 percent share of the Chinese search market in the third quarter of 2006, while Google had 16.4 percent and Yahoo! Inc.'s China unit had 13 percent, according to Analysys.
Sponsor Results:
