THE DISPUTE: China’s two biggest video websites, Youku.com Inc. and Tudou Inc., are fighting a court battle over accusations they are misusing each other’s programming.
THE BACKDROP: The conflict between the two companies is part of a struggle for dominance in an online market with nearly 400 million viewers.
BEYOND YOUTUBE: China’s video websites started out imitating Youtube, relying on users to upload cat videos and other free material. But to lock in affluent viewers, the most ambitious started to imitate TV stations, paying to import foreign programs or create their own. The dispute is over those programs.