Chinese internet companies including Tencent Holdings, Sohu.com, Youku Tudou and Dalian Wanda Group have joined hands with the Motion Picture Association of America to ask the so-called Chinese Google, Baidu, and Shenzhen-based free video player QVOD for Rmb300 million (US$49.2 million) in damages due to multiple copyright violations.
According to Reuters, the plaintiffs have issued a statement stating that their content has been taken without authorization by an automatic process of Baidu and QVOD.
Baidu released a statement stating that it has “always attached a great deal of importance to the issue of copyright protection in the video industry” and it “[hopes] to collaborate with industry partners and, through technological innovation and close collaboration, together to promote the development the legalization of the video industry.”
A spokeswoman for QVOD declined to elaborate on the piracy allegations, saying “we are just a video player, we don’t provide content.”