Chinese Web Giant Baidu Removed from U.S. List of Notorious Piracy Markets

The U.S. has removed Chinese online search giant Baidu from its list of notorious markets for piracy in a nod to the company's recent efforts to clean up its music offerings, Reuters reported.

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Baidu had been on the list of the United States Trade Representative for years. This summer though, it signed an agreement with big music companies to distribute licensed songs through its mp3 search service, ending a legal tussle that saw critics argue that Baidu encouraged piracy.

Meanwhile, Chinese Web firm Alibaba Group's Taobao unit showed up the November notorious markets list for offering a range of copyright infringing products, Reuters reported.

"Several commentators reported that pirated and counterfeit goods continue to be widely available on China-based Taobao," the Trade Representative wrote in a report, it said. "While stakeholders report that Taobao continues to make significant efforts to address the problem, they recognize that much remains to be done."

Overall, four of the 15 physical notorious markets for piracy are located in China, the report said.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai