The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a group representing several music labels, has filed a lawsuit against Yahoo's Chinese affiliate over alleged music piracy.

The lawsuit was filed by the IFPI on behalf of EMI, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music and Universal Music, the Financial Times reports. The suit alleges losses of about $710,000 as a result of music piracy via Yahoo China. The case comes despite the IFPI's having lost a similar case against Chinese web search company Baidu.com last year. The same Beijing court that ruled in favor of Baidu will hear the new case.

"We expect to eventually win," John Kennedy, IFPI chairman, said yesterday. "We believe they are involved in infringing our members' rights on a major scale." But Alibaba.com, which owns Yahoo China, said the Baidu ruling last November set a precedent that showed that the music companies had no case.

"Our view is that there is a clear precedent out there," said Porter Erisman, Alibaba vice-president for corporate affairs. "Search companies can’t be held responsible for content held on third-party websites."