<<Print>>

Chinese search engine Baidu has struck a deal with leading music labels ending years of legal wrangling over rights. Baidu signed an agreement with a joint venture owned by Universal Music, Warner Music and Sony Music to distribute music through its mp3 search service. Baidu, China's biggest search engine, will pay the owners of the music rights on a per-play and per-download basis. China is the world's biggest internet market with close to 470 million users. Baidu has been involved in legal tussle with the music labels. It has been accused of steering consumers to third-party websites where pirated material is hosted. However, the company said that all outstanding litigation between the parties involved had ended as part of the deal.