Lawsuit Coming? Music Industry Boils Water for Yahoo! China
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Written By Reprise Media | July 5, 2006 | Share This
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According to Reuters, the folks at the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries (”representing the recording industry worldwide”) want to make inroads into China. The problem: it’s a market dominated by pirated music. The solution: offer a low cost, high quality alternative?
Nah. Sue the search engine!
The IFPI is reportedly preparing litigation against Yahoo! China (a joint operation controlled by Yahoo! and Alibaba.com) for linking to unauthorized copies of songs hosted elsewhere on the Internet. Boing Boing says that Y! China’s front page music tab, which lists links to copyrighted music, might be one point of contention. IFPI Chief Executive John Kennedy explains his organization’s intentions:
“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…If negotiation can prevent that, so be it.”
Hint, hint.
Although the group’s name mentions an obsolete piece of audio equipment (”phonographic”? Why not upgrade to an 8-track player?), IFPI seems up do date on legal maneuvers. A Dutch court ruled recently that merely pointing out where pirated music is can be construed as publishing it, and similar rulings had been made in both Australia and, yes, China. So far no reaction from Yahoo! China, or any word on what kind of “negotiation” might be feasible with IFPI, but we’ll stay on top of it.
Topics: Legal Issues, Yahoo! |