Chinese video website Youku.com announced that it has sued Sohu.com at Beijing Haidian People's Court for Sohu's infringements of Youku's copyrights and harming Youku's reputation.

Prior to this, Sohu.com, along with Joy.cn and Union Voole Technology Company, initiated an anti-piracy alliance aimed at video websites in China. Sohu.com said it would initiate lawsuits against major Chinese video websites, including Youku.com and Tudou.com, and would ask for compensations of between CNY50 million and CNY100 million from Youku.com.

Youku.com told local media that as a well-know Chinese website and a Nasdaq-listed company, Sohu.com disregards Youku.com's legal rights and fair competition rules. Its spread of false information brings adverse impact to Youku.com and severely damages Youku.com's reputation and enterprise image.

In addition, Youku.com stated during its investigation and evidence collection, it found that many videos that were made by Youku.com itself or co-produced by Youku.com with its partners were illegally broadcasted on Sohu.com.

Therefore, Youku.com has raised a lawsuit against Sohu.com for the latter's infringements of its copyright and reputation. It is undetermined what monetary damages Youku.com is seeking from this lawsuit.