Chinese Video-Streaming Sites in Piracy Battle

SHANGHAI: Youku.com and Tudou Holdings, China’s two largest operators of online video sites, are accusing each other of copyright infringements for running each other’s exclusive videos.

Tudou is suing Youku for 150 million yuan ($24 million) in damages over pirating the exclusive rights to a popular Taiwanese entertainment show, Kangxi is Coming, whose online broadcast rights in China are owned by Tudou. Youku has countered the claim, accusing Tudou of pirating its content such as Korean variety shows and Chinese series and more than 60 other programs. Tudou claims that the content it did not pay for has already been deleted after receiving copyright infringement notices in September and December. Tudou claims that the Korean content was purchased legitimately with a license until December 31, 2011. Youku is refuting these claims, initiating legal proceedings against Tudou.