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Piracy is far from dead, although most modern day buccaneers are too busy infringing on copyright laws to sail the seven seas. This is no more clearly evidenced than by the fact that Yahoo China lost another round in a legal battle in Beijing where a court upheld the ruling that the company infringed on copyright laws by allowing pirated music to be downloaded.

This news comes from an industry group suing Yahoo China. According to John Kennedy, chairman and CEO of the International Federation of Phonographic Industries or IFPI,

“The ruling against Yahoo China is extremely significant in clarifying copyright rules for Internet music services in China. By confirming that Yahoo China’s service violates copyright under new Chinese laws, the Beijing Court has effectively set the standard for Internet companies throughout the country.”

Yahoo China is owned and operated by Alibaba, a Chinese Internet company and Yahoo owns a 44% stake. Alibaba had nothing public to say about the results of the lawsuit. Filed in January 2007, the suit was filed on behalf of several recording studios including Warner Music Group, Sony BMG, and Universal Vivendi. It accused China Yahoo of violating copyrights because it allows links between its search engine and Web sites that have illegally copied songs from artists such as U2 and Destiny’s Child.

China is considered one of the biggest sources of pirated music and movies, as well as counterfeit goods. Many companies and organizations have been taking legal action to prevent the flow of this content out of China. Recent reforms in Chinese law have helped, but experts say that piracy is still a major problem.

It is perhaps fitting that it is a Chinese saying that speaks of the “journey of a thousand miles beginning with a single step.”

Read [CNET]