Chinese search engine Baidu has responded to that previously reported second lawsuit filed against it by the record companies.
As previously reported, the major labels don't like Baidu's MP3 search facility which provides so called 'deep links' to digital audio files, many on the net illegally, which, the content owners argue, make accessing illegal sources of music much easier. A previous lawsuit against the search engine over the MP3 search thing was unsuccessful, but a subsequent change in Chinese copyright law meant that a similar case against Yahoo! China in relation to their MP3 search service went in the labels' favour. As a result, the music firms hope a second lawsuit against the Baidu service - which the Beijing courts have confirmed they will hear - will be more successful.
Responding to the lawsuit, Baidu seems keen to stress that it is and always has been a supporter of protecting copyrights on the net, and adds that it is working with music and media companies to try and achieve this. It said in a statement: "As the leader in Chinese-language search, Baidu has always been an advocate of improving the protection of copyrights on the internet. Baidu is committed to working with record and media companies to develop new digital entertainment business models and explore ways to promote licensed content. We have cooperated with a number of record companies, including leading labels such as EMI and Rolling Stone [sic], as well as nearly half of the domestic record companies". Whether any of that means it is willing to budge on its MP3 search tool - in or out of court - or whether it simply wants to avoid being seen as being dismissive of copyrights ahead of any court battle, I'm not sure.