科技英语新闻:Baidu makes deal with world music giants

SHANGHAI, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Baidu Inc., the largest Chinese search engine based in Beijing, said Tuesday it closed a deal that allows the company to provide download services of music from Universal Music, Warner Music and Sony Music.

According to the deal signed between Baidu and One Stop China (OSC), a joint venture of the three music companies, Baidu will pay them on a per-play and per-download basis for all tracks delivered through its MP3 server, said a press release provided by Baidu.

Users can have access to the authorized music free of charge, and Chinese songs, both in Mandarin and Cantonese, and some global content provided by the three music companies will be included in the catalogue.

Baidu also launched a social music platform called "Baidu ting!" through which users can obtain and share some music-related information and content.

Li Xinzhe, CFO of Baidu, described the deal as a "milestone" that can benefit not only Baidu and its partners but also music lovers and the privacy-stricken industry.

Wang Bin, secretary general of Copyright Union of Internet Society of China, predicted that it would have a demonstrative effect on the Internet sector.

In 2008, Universal, Warner and Sony Music sued Baidu for at least 63.5 million yuan (9.8 million U.S. dollars) in copyright infringement.