BEIJING: China's top Internet search engine Baidu, already targeted by international music firms over alleged copyright infringement, now faces a local piracy suit, state press said Friday.

Music Copyright Society of China, which is under the National Copyright Administration, lodged the suit in January, requiring Baidu to stop infringement on the copyrights for 50 songs, the Market News reported.

"Baidu is not the only search engine involved in infringing music copyrights, but currently it is the largest," said Qu Jingming, director of the society, according to the report.

"We can only capture the ringleader first in order to catch all the followers.'"

The society demands one million yuan (140,000 US dollars) in compensation from the company, according to the Guangzhou Daily.

Earlier this month, Universal Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment Hong Kong and Warner Music Hong Kong lodged a filing with a Beijing court against Baidu for pirating music files, after they lost a related ruling in December. - AFP/ac