About 80 Chinese copyright owners, including Joy.cn, Beijing Polybona Film Distribution, Beijing Orange Sky Entertainment Group and SFS Emperor, are planning a massive legal assault against Chinese Internet video website Tudou.com for various copyright infringements.

The companies are setting up an anti-piracy alliance in their bid to rid Tudou.com of pirated content. Joy.cn told local media that starting from the end of 2007, Joy.cn found that some videos promoted by Tudou.com on its front page were the exclusive videos of Joy.cn. In April 2008, Joy.cn contacted Tudou.com and asked the website to delete the pirated content and pay compensation. In May 2008, Joy.cn sued Tudou.com and in November 2008 Tudou.com reportedly asked to settle the issue out of court before the final judgment was made. There is no information yet on what amount either Joy.cn was seeking or the amount of money Tudou was willing to pay.

This is just the beginning of Tudou.com's infringement lawsuits, says Joy.cn. The company is currently obtaining evidence to gain support in more copyright infringement cases related to Tudou.com. In response to Joy.cn's statement, a representative from Tudou.com told local media that the company has not yet received any legal letter.

A representative from Orange Sky says that some of the videos published on Tudou.com have not even published by authorized copyright owners, which seriously infringes the interests of these copyright owners. By this large-scale anti-piracy activity, the alliance hopes to create a rights protection wave among video websites to protect the rights of authentic videos and promote the fair and healthy development of film and Internet video industries within China.