Copyright owners are celebrating the first successful online digital music copyright infringement case decided in China.

Beijing-based R2G sued China.com for copyright infringement after accusing the website of selling downloadable ring tones that were shortened versions of music by Jay Chou, a Taiwanese pop star. BMG owns the copyright in Jay Chou's music but R2G has rights to distribute the music in China.

On June 21, the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court ordered China.com to pay R2G $3,750 in damages for selling 18 copies of replicated ring tones online as well as $2,500 in court costs.

In a statement, Wu Jun, CEO of R2G, said the ruling was a "positive showcase" in the fight against digital piracy. "This is also the first successfully concluded lawsuit where compensation has been awarded for the violation of music publishing rights. We sincerely wish that China.com, who was the first Chinese internet company to be listed on NASDAQ, will commit to join us in maintaining and protecting online copyright. We also wish more China Service Providers will join us in the fight against online piracy."

Meanwhile, the music industry group International Federation for the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) last week threatened to sue Yahoo China over allowing copyrighted songs to be downloaded from its MP3 service without record company permission.

The IFPI said it had approached Yahoo China last April requesting it to take steps to the halt the infringement but had not yet received a response.

The group's chairman and CEO John Kennedy said: "Yahoo China has been blatantly infringing our members' rights. We have started the process [of filing a lawsuit] and as far as we're concerned we're on the track to litigation. If negotiation can prevent that, so be it."