Kuaishou, operator of the world’s No. 2 short-video app behind ByteDance’s TikTok, was accused of massive copyright infringements as the company prepares for its shares to start trading in Hong Kong following a $5.4 billion initial public offering, reported Caixin.
The China Audio-Video Copyright Association (CAVCA), a government-backed copyright association, asked Kuaishou to delete 10,000 videos that allegedly breach intellectual property rules and demanded that the company launch a self-inspection of content on its platform.
CAVCA, which engages in collective copyright management and generates fees from licensing members’ music and videos, found 155 million videos on Kuaishou that used copyrighted background music without authorization, the organization said Monday in a statement.
Kuaishou is likely to be removed from Apple’s app store if it fails to resolve the copyright issues, the association said Tuesday.