China's new online music rules a headache for search engines

Music providers in China will have to provide translated lyrics and licensing documents for every single song they have to offer before the end of the year, according to the country's Ministry of Culture. The rules also apply to search engines, though it's not clear how they will obtain that information for files they don't host.

China has begun a massive effort to crack down on Internet music piracy with the Ministry of Culture issuing a new directive. Before the end of 2009, the Chinese government expects all music providers out of China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan to submit mountains of paperwork for each song with the goal of cutting down on "the intermingling of good and bad content" online.

The required documents include lyrics translated to Chinese and licensing agreements proving that the music providers have the green light to offer that music online. This not only includes music produced in the region, but imported music as well, as China requires approval of all foreign music before selling it within the country. Once all the documents are submitted, interested parties must also apply for a license from the Ministry in order to sell music online within China.

This will be a huge bureaucratic headache for businesses hoping to make money by selling music in China. The Ministry said in its announcement that it hopes to standardize the behavior of the online music business in a country where piracy is rampant. However, the new rules appear to reach beyond just those who sell music directly to customers, stickifying an already complex problem. When asked whether search engines like Baidu and Google fall under the requirements, a ministry official told the Wall Street Journal, "Baidu is a search engine. Of course it's regulated by the notice."

Google acts as both a music provider and a search engine in China—the search giant struck a deal with the Big Four music labels earlier this year to make much of their catalogs available in China. For this venture anyway, Google cooperates with Chinese law and blocks songs that have been banned by the government, but it's unclear whether this compliance also applies to the company's regular search offerings in China. What isclear is that the ministry seems to expect all search engines to comply from here on out.

It's difficult to picture how search engines will provide documentation for every song their spiders find—especially since they don't host that music—and what the Chinese government will do about it if they aren't able to comply. After all, China has gotten on Google's back for disseminating porn (which is illegal) in the same manner, but it seems as if the company will have to figure something out if it wants to continue doing business in China.