I've been a regular critic of China's legal system from a business perspective, as it does little or nothing to protect copyrights and intellectual property rights due to its ridiculously low fines that have little or no deterrent effect. That said, the latest copyright lawsuit filed against Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) actually looks quite interesting, but not because of the legal implications. Chinese media are reporting the suit against the literature site operated by China's leading search engine was filed by 4 prominent writers, including the wildly popular blogger Han Han and authors Hao Qun and Han Ailian. (Chinese article) It demands that works by the 4 be removed from the Baidu Literature site immediately and seeks unspecified damages. On the surface, this suit looks like a much broader one filed against Baidu several months ago by a bigger group of lesser known authors for the same reason. (previous post) That suit briefly made headlines, but disappeared just as quickly as the public and media lost interest. I have no doubt that any damages against Baidu resulting from this new lawsuit will be meaningless. But the big difference here is that the 4 plaintiffs this time are very influential writers, including Han Han, whose blog has millions of followers and thus could mount a very damaging, long-term campaign against Baidu if they choose. If Baidu is smart, it will quickly settle this lawsuit to placate these plaintiffs. Even if it does that, it could face some serious negative PR from this lawsuit in general, damaging its reputation for a public already skeptical about many of its less-than-transparent practices in displaying its paid search results, which have also come under criticism.

Bottom line: A new lawsuit by 4 prominent writers against Baidu could result in a major negative campaign against the company, which should try to settle the case as soon as possible.