Beijing – Top Chinese search engine Baidu (NASD: BIDU) has removed 2.8
million written works from its online library, after receiving complaints from
authors that they had not been authorized for distribution, the Associated
Press reported.
On March 15, a group of Chinese authors posted a petition
demanding Baidu remove the unauthorized works from its website.
Baidu CEO Robin
Li said publicly shortly thereafter that the company would shutter the service
if it could not resolve the matter with authors, and plans to launch a filter
to block the uploading of copyrighted works to Baidu Library in May.
"We
really hope our actions will go far to assuage [authors] and will form a
foundation for us to have fruitful talks about ways to cooperate," Baidu
spokesman Kaiser Kuo told AP.
With the 2.8 million works removed, Baidu Library
is left with about 1,000 works that were properly licensed.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4lcp8qs
(AP)
