Group Says Yahoo China Loses Piracy Suit

Loses Suit

An industry group says it has won a new round in a court battle with YAHOO INC.'s CHINA arm, which is accused of helping online music pirates. A BEIJING appeals court on THURSDAY upheld a ruling against YAHOO CHINA over its search engine's links to outside Web sites that carried illegally copied music, the INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PHONOGRAPHIC INDUSTRIES said. 

Court officials would not confirm the report. A spokesman for ALIBABA GROUP, the local partner that manages YAHOO's CHINA arm, said he had not seen the ruling and could not comment on it. But the spokesman, PORTER ERISMAN, said YAHOO CHINA hoped to reach an agreement with music companies to create a licensed download service.

CHINA is a leading source of pirated copies of music, movies and other goods. Operators of pirate Web sites offer music, games and other services to attract users and make money from advertising or online commerce.

Industry groups have won a series of lawsuits against companies accused of profiting from piracy but say violations are growing despite increased Chinese government enforcement.

In the latest case, the IFPI -- representing companies including WARNER MUSIC GROUP CORP., SONY BMG and UNIVERSAL VIVENDI, accused YAHOO CHINA of violating copyrights because of links between its search engine and Web sites with 229 illegally copied songs.

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