A Chinese copyright body has requested Kuaishou remove 10,000 videos from its platform for alleged infringement of intellectual property rights, and that may just be the start. The order comes as the short video app prepares to trade its shares in Hong Kong.
The China Audio-Video Copyright Association (CAVCA), a government-backed social organization that engages in collective copyright management and collects fees from licensing its members’ music and videos, said in a statement on Monday that it found some 155 million videos on Kuaishou that used copyrighted background music without authorization.
CAVCA provided links to the first batch of 10,000 videos using unauthorized music to Kuaishou and asked for them to be deleted from the platform.
Kuaishou did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by Caixin on Tuesday morning.
CAVCA’s demand comes just days before Kuaishou, the world’s second-largest short video app after ByteDance’s TikTok, is set to trade its shares in Hong Kong on Feb. 5. Tencent-backed Kuaishou wrapped up its Hong Kong IPO last Friday raising $5.4 billion, and offers from retail investors have reached $164.8 billion, according to the South China Morning Post.
– This article originally appeared on Caixin Global.
