Film studios seek damages from Chinese online firm

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Six U.S. film studios have filed civil complaints against Chinese file-sharing firm Xunlei Networking Technology Co Ltd, part-owned by Google Inc, for copyright infringement and are seeking more than 7 million yuan ($1 million) in damages and costs, the Motion Picture Association said.

MPA, a trade group, said in a statement on Friday that the plaintiffs were also seeking a public acknowledgement of the infringements as well as a pledge from Xunlei to refrain from future infringements.

A representative for Xunlei could not be reached for comment.

MPA said that Xunlei facilitated the unauthorised transmission of hundreds of Hollywood movies produced by its members, including "Spiderman 3," "War of the Worlds" and "Miami Vice."

Google said at the beginning of 2007 that it had bought a stake in Shenzhen-based Xunlei, but declined to disclose the size of the stake or financial details of the deal.

($1=7.180 Yuan)

(Reporting by Sophie Taylor; Editing by Edmund Klamann)