Cease and desist

Two groups representing musicians and songwriters in China have failed a lawsuit against Baidu, citing copyright violation.

The search engine makes it easy for users to access free music. Its service has become so popular that in December 2007, Baidu's search share beat Google in China by 34 points, capturing 5.2 percent of searches globally.

In early February, Google announced plans to give away free music downloads in tangent with three global music companies and dozens of small labels.

Digitial music distributor R2G and the Music Copyright Society of China accused Baidu of "taking advantage of China's relatively unsophisticated music industry" to boost ad income, ZDNet reported.

The suit was filed in Beijing in January. The parties involve demand that Baidu desist violating copyrights and provide compensation.

"This lawsuit is just the beginning," threatened Qu Jingming of the Music Copyright Society.

Several weeks ago, Baidu was served a court order for infringing on copyrights held by Warner, Sony BMG and Universal Music.