Caught in a Web

People still prefer going to the theater for a movie or a show. But it is not always convenient. Tickets can be expensive and hard to get. Thanks to new technology, audiences today can turn to their computers and watch most movies, plays and musicals online.

With the rapid development of Internet technology, websites providing online videos have been flourishing in recent years. The Movie Copyright Protection Association of China (MCPAC) says there are about 30,000 websites that specialize in providing access to visual arts, including films in China.

According to a report by iResearch, a research company, the online video market in China is still expanding and could reach 3.4 billion yuan by 2010. MCPAC data showed that 61 percent of China's 172 million Internet users watched free movies online last year, led by university students and white-collar workers.

But despite the convenience for audience, these websites are involved in legal issues, most notably the violation of intellectual property rights. Online videos, in addition to pirated DVDs sold on the street, have made film piracy an even more serious challenge for China's culture industry and its trade partners.

"The Internet is a revolutionary way to get access to the visual arts, but the public has to be made more aware of the need for copyright protection," says Li Guomin, MCPAC vice-chairman.

TVB, a TV series producer based in Hong Kong, recently sued one of the largest video sharing websites, Tudou, for providing online viewing of many of its TV series.

And when the Broadway musical Cats came to China at the beginning of this year, the crew was surprised to learn that they had found clips of the their performance in Beijing online. It turned out that some audience members brought a camera with them, recording parts of the show and putting clips online.

IPR violations are not only limited to the online video websites. Some of the major portal websites also provide such online service. As one of the lawyers specializing in IPR says, nearly 99 percent of video clips are illegal or without the protection of intellectual property rights.

The piracy issue of online clips has also affected the movie industry. "The growth of the market for online pirated movies is jeopardizing the development of China's film industry," says Li from MCPAC.

Key in director Ang Lee's latest movie Lust and Caution, and thousands of search results show up on Tudou.com. In November, Beijing-based Quacor.com, an authorized online movie provider, sued two online video sharing websites, Tudou.com and Xunlei.com, for offering downloads of The Sun Also Rises, a movie from Chinese director Jiang Wen.

"If these infringements continue, producers might simply stop making movies altogether," Li says.

It has also occurred to TV programs. Many websites now put TV programs online. Audiences therefore do not need to turn to TVs, and they can watch online without even downloading these programs.

Lai Bin, an official from the China Copyright Protection Center, said the organization will provide legal support for websites that offer online movies with copyrights. "But it takes the combined effort of government, enterprise and netizens," he added.

Some websites have started to act together. In January, fifty Chinese web sites agreed to stop offering pirated movies online. Major websites including china.com.cn, 163.com and people.com.cn were among the signatories.

Things have started to change as some new measures have come out. First, some popular programs have started giving exclusive rights to certain websites to broadcast online. These websites will in turn be responsible for protecting copyrights. They can cooperate with other websites since they are more familiar with the Internet.

As part of a new regulation to take effect this March, video-sharing websites will have to obtain a license from the government before they broadcast any video program online.

When the industry gets more regulated, it will be easier for producers to cooperate with these websites, similar to the cooperation between web search engine Baidu.com and some record companies, analysts say.