Homeway Follows Sina.com to Accuse Sohu.com of Plagiarism

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, January 31, 2002

Homeway Follows Sina.com to Accuse Sohu.com of Plagiarism

Sohu.com, one of the country's major Chinese Internet portals, must defend itself again as the Homeway Co followed Sina.com to accuse Sohu of alleged plagiarism.

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Sohu.com, one of the country's major Chinese Internet portals, must defend itself again as the Homeway Co followed Sina.com to accuse Sohu of alleged plagiarism.

Last Tuesday Sina.com, which is believed to be the biggest Chinese Internet portal in China, initiated a heated dispute over Sohu.com's alleged plagiarism of news and pictures.

Both are waiting for Beijing's No 2 Intermediate People's Court to open to settle the disputes.

The Homeway Infotech Company, which operates the country's largest financial website at www.homeway.com.cn filed a lawsuit to the Beijing Chaoyang District People's Court earlier this week, accusing Sohu's website of allegedly copying and quoting Homeway's exclusive financial stories without permission and payment since last June, according to the lawsuit.

Homeway asked for a total of 300,000 yuan (US$36,000) as compensation, together with a written apology that must be publicized and continued for 48 hours on Sohu's webpage.

The court has accepted the lawsuit saying they will open the case in at least two weeks after formally notifying the defendant, said court officer Mao Li.

Mao also said the court typically makes final judgments on intellectual property rights cases within six months from when they are filed.

Min Dahong, an expert on mass media with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said lack of recognized regulations for the protection of intellectual property rights on the Internet has hindered the development of website companies, especially fledgling domestic websites.

Min called for definite rules from authorities as soon as possible to regulate the use of materials on the Internet.

Sohu's Publicity Officer Zeng Yi told China Daily the company has signed agreements with other media before to use their stories and even got permission from authors for some exclusive articles.

But she admitted Sohu had no such agreements with Sina.com, and she was not sure whether there were agreements with Homeway.

Sohu's Chief Executive Officer Zhang Chaoyang also stressed in a public statement Wednesday that Sohu opposes "any form of plagiarism on the Internet," adding that Sohu, as a NASDAQ listed network company, will always highlight the importance of intellectual property rights protection on the Internet.

Homeway officials were not available for comment. And neither Sohu.com nor the Homeway website mentioned the case by yesterday afternoon.

But Sohu's Marketing Officer Chen Ying said Sohu has kept a close business partnership with Homeway and will launch another formal statement on its website today to clarify its disputes with Homeway, as well as Sina.com.

Homeway sent a letter to Sohu on November 1 last year, requiring that Sohu cease its copyright infringement, according to the lawsuit.

Homeway.com.cn, authorized by the government, provides 24-hour business information together with on-line investing and financing platforms.

Sohu.com and Sina.com, together with Netease.com, are deemed as the "Big Three" in China's Internet industry, all of which are listed on NASDAQ.

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