SHANGHAI, July 22, 2008 (AFP) - A popular Chinese singer has won what is reportedly the country's first karaoke copyright infringement case against a Shanghai-based bar chain, state media reported Tuesday.

Singer Pang Long's management company won the case against Haoledi Entertainment Company, one of China's leading karaoke bar chains, the Xinhua news agency said.

BRUSSELS, July 16, 2008 (AFP) - The European Commission banned on Wednesday societies that collect royalty fees for songwriters from restricting competition in Europe, breaking their national monopolies.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 4, 2008 (AFP) - A US judge has ordered Google to expose to Viacom the video-viewing habits of everyone who has ever used YouTube in a decision condemned Thursday by the Internet giant and privacy advocates.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 3, 2008 (AFP) - Google expressed disappointment Thursday at a judge's order to give entertainment giant Viacom details of video-watching habits of visitors to its popular video-sharing website YouTube.

On Tuesday US District Court Judge Louis Stanton backed Viacom's request for data on which YouTube users watch which videos on the website.

BEIJING, July 2, 2008 (AFP) - Visitors hoping to stock up on China's infamous array of counterfeit goods when they come to Beijing for the Olympics may be disappointed, with authorities carrying out a pre-Games crackdown.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 8, 2008 (AFP) - A TorrentSpy lawyer vowed Thursday to appeal a 110-million-dollar legal judgment against the website for directing people to unauthorized online copies of films and television shows.

TOKYO, May 8, 2008 (AFP) - Japan is considering a copyright fee for buyers of iPods and similar portable audio players, as well as hard disc video recorders, an official said Thursday.

SEOUL, May 6, 2008 (AFP) - US media mogul Sumner Redstone said Tuesday that 'enormous emerging markets' for entertainment content are opening up across Asia and elsewhere but copyright protection poses a growing challenge.

STOCKHOLM, May 5, 2008 (AFP) - A Swedish court on Monday handed down a suspended sentence and a 10,000-kronor (1,655-dollar, 1,070-euro) fine to a man found guilty of sharing some 4,500 music files and 30 films on the Internet.

NEW YORK, April 30, 2008 (AFP) - John Lennon's wife Yoko Ono and a group of collectors agreed Wednesday to not release video footage of the late Beatle pending a Boston court ruling on who controls it, lawyers said.