Yesterday, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPA),
China's Ministry of Culture (MOC), State Administration of Radio,
Film and Television (SARFT) and National Copyright Administration
held a joint press conference in Beijing to announce the results of
copyright protection efforts since their July 13 memorandum on
anti-piracy of films in China.
China doubled its box office takings to US$300 million in 2004,
but the MPA said 95 percent of its members' products were pirated
there at the end of the year and the associated loss of revenue
exceeded US$280 million.
Zhang Xinjian, deputy director of the MOC's culture market
department, pledged to enhance anti-piracy enforcement through
consumer education as well as crackdowns on street sellers.
Under the terms of July's memorandum, every three months the MPA
will submit a list of films its members plan to screen in China to
the MOC and SARFT. All home video products available prior to their
authorized release dates are deemed illegal and, when criminal
copyright infringement has taken place, the case will be
prosecuted.
Zhang Pimin, SARFT deputy director, said the agreement provided
an efficient mechanism for communication and collaboration between
the two sides.
The first seven titles submitted by the MPA included Star
Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, xXx:
State of the Union and Batman Begins.
MPA surveys of target outlets in Shanghai found that no pirate
versions of films covered by the agreement were available at all
during October, and in Guangzhou and Shenzhen there was a great
reduction in September. However, in Beijing their availability
actually increased from last month to be almost universal.
Mike Ellis, MPA's Asia-Pacific regional director, said that
although good progress had been made in some areas, much work
remained to be done.
Alongside the quarterly conferences to determine the
effectiveness of the agreement, the two sides also agreed to hold
additional consultations in relation to protection of films not
covered by the memorandum.
According to a White Paper on China's progress in copyright
protection released by the State Council in April, China had seized
over 154 million pirated audio and video products in 2004 and more
than 450 million illegal optical discs had been destroyed over the
past four years.
(China.org.cn by Li Xiao, October 26, 2005)
