Chinese website ordered to pay EMI for broadcasting unauthorized tunes

SHANGHAI, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese music website was ordered to pay 150,000 yuan (21,117 U.S. dollars) to the Taiwan branch of the EMI Group Hong Kong Ltd. for broadcasting 165 unauthorized songs, a local court said on Wednesday.

Hangzhou Xuancai Culture and Art Design Co. Ltd, the owner of www.5sing.com, was ordered to compensate and apologize to the website within 30 days for copyright and authorship violations, according to the Shanghai No. 2 Municipal Intermediate People's Court.

EMI alleged Xuancai had broadcasted the 165 songs without authorization. It had also misrepresented the authors of 29 songs on its website between September 2006 to February 2007.

It filed suit later and asked the company to apologize on its website and to pay compensation of 500,000 yuan and pay legal costs.