Court Rules against Baidu in Mobile Game Developers' Suit
National Business Daily, 5/23/12
In a hearing on May 22, the Beijing Haidian District People's Court ruled against Chinese internet company Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), ordering that the company pay Dalian-based mobile game developer Dalian Alioth Technology Consulting RMB 7,000 in compensation for losses. At the end of last year, 25 Chinese mobile game developers represented by industry association Content Provider Union (CPU) filed a lawsuit against Baidu for copyright infringement, accusing Baidu of hosting pirated copies of more than 300 titles developed by CPU members on its mobile site for unauthorized free user download. Baidu argued that though there were indeed free games featured on its mobile site, it should not bear the blame, as it only offers a technology enabling users to search for games and to achieve fast and stable download connections to products housed on third-party websites.
The court found Baidu guilty for assisting and facilitating copyright infringement.
A spokesperson for the plaintiff has disclosed that the plaintiff is not satisfied with the compensation amount, and intends to appeal to the higher level Beijing Intermediate People's Court. For each pirated game, the plaintiff believes compensation should be at least within the range of RMB 30,000 and RMB 50,000, and at most within the range of RMB 80,000 and RMB 100,000.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Mobile Game Developers Sue Baidu for Piracy," MD 11/11/11 issue.
Keywords: piracy wireless Baidu Beijing Haidian District People's Court BIDU Content Provider Union law litigation penalty IPR infringement mobile gaming
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