Back in February, I posted an item on BoingBoing about the abundance of pirated tunes one can find by way of Chinese-language search engines Yahoo China and Baidu. Not news for anyone who’s spent time on those sites, but as a non-Chinese-speaker, it was news to me. Unlike Yahoo.cn (which is 60% owned by China’s Alibaba.com) the user interface for Yahoo.com does not include a top-level “Music” tab displaying links to files of ripped top-40 hits (plus lyrics, the ability to save to “My Yahoo,” and other goodies).
Now there’s news that the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries plans to sue Yahoo China over that very issue. They filed a similar suit against Baidu not long ago. What’s most interesting about the threatened action is the fact that Yahoo China is not *hosting* the infringing files, just disclosing to users where they are on the internet. That and the reality that copyright law norms in the US tend to be… ah, different than how things tend to work in China.
Should search companies be liable for the copyright status of what their services allow you to find? Some argue this is like suing an eyeglass manufacturer because a pair of specs helps you see where someone else commits a misdeed. The question of just how much responsibility search firms bear isn’t a new one, but it is an increasingly contentious one — more so as the business of search continues to grow beyond national borders:
“Yahoo China has been blatantly infringing our members’ rights. We have started the process and as far as we’re concerned we’re on the track to litigation,” said John Kennedy, chairman and chief executive of the music industry trade group the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. “If negotiation can prevent that, so be it,” he added.
Yahoo China officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Yahoo China is a partnership between Internet giant Yahoo Inc, which owns 40 percent of the business, and China’s Alibaba.com. The IFPI has blasted Yahoo China’s search engine for providing links to Web sites that offer unlicensed music downloads.
Link to Reuters article. Here is the full text of IFPI’s statement on Yahoo China.