WTF? Baidu Wins MP3 Deep Linking Case

2010-01-27

It's been a good couple of weeks for Baidu, hasn't it?

This post might turn into a lengthy rehash of some old litigation and copyright law issues, so let me start off with the newest development here. Baidu was sued by several large music companies and their industry group, the IFPI. The claim was that Baidu (and Sohu, which was also a defendant) was guilty of copyright infringement due to its "deep linking" to MP3 files — direct hyperlinks to illegal content.

Everyone expected Baidu to lose this case, myself included. This is a big surprise and doesn't make much sense given the state of the law and previous decisions in this area.

OK, let's unpack this a bit so I can explain just exactly why this is so messed up.
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