Chinese Internet music provider 5fad.com has filed a lawsuit against Chinese Internet search engine Baidu.com (BIDU) at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Wu Duanping, CEO of 5fad.com said in a statement, "This litigation will be a cornerstone in China's intellectual property protection cases." However since the case is being heard across the Pacific Ocean in the United States, it's unclear what type of actions future plaintiffs can take against companies that are not in some way based in the United States. Baidu.com's shares are sold on Nasdaq in the United States.
The lawsuit focuses on copyright infringement against Baidu.com, and the litigation seeks relief against an ongoing infringement of the 5fad.com's copyrights in a number of music works. Baidu is accused of allowing Internet users to directly listen to and download copyright works via its website without 5fad.com's authorization.
Searching for mp3 is an important service of Baidu.com, and it has made a big contribution to the company. If the Defendant loses the case, it may ultimately be asked to abandon this kind of service. A victory for 5fad.com could also evoke other record companies to do the same thing. Such actions could be beneficial to China's digital culture industry and help change the current stagnation.
5fad.com is confident that the US courts will grant an appropriate outcome in response to the lawsuit.
5fad.com is one of hundreds of digital entertainment and culture companies in China. While 5fad.com is not necessarily the biggest company of its type in China, any small injunction against Baidu can be viewed as a victory for intellectual property rights in China.
5fad has already brought five separate cases against Baidu in China with the same allegations, and has lost all of them. The case is basically about deep linking; Baidu's MP3 search returns links to files stored on 5fad. I guess they think it's easier to launch baseless lawsuits than set up some actual security on their site.