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Monopoly corrupts. Absolute monopoly corrupts absolutely.





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Two Chinese Firms Sued for Copyright Infringement

Chinese internet firms Baidu.com Inc. and Sogou (part of Sohu.com) have been sued in a Chinese court for allowing illegal downloads of music files. Here is the story in today's Wall Street Journal. The plaintiffs are the usual suspects--Chinese based units of the labels. Sony BMG Music, Warner Music Group, and Viviendi are suing both companies; EMI's Gold Label is suing Sogou.

The suits are for relatively small but still unprecedented (by Asian standards) sums ($9 mill for Baidu and $7.5 mill for Sogou), but could open the floodgates for real money, even by Sen. Dirksen's standards.

Baidu has revenue-sharing deals deals in place with many Chinese labels, including EMI. These have been nixed by the other majors.

Meanwhile, MySpace Music has cut a deal with Warner, Sony BMG, and Universal that offers them equity and ad revenue.

Here is the article, from Business Week, April 14.


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