MOVIE PIRATES IN CHINA PASSING OFF HIGH DEFINITION DVDS AS BLU-RAY DISCS
Shenzhen Authorities Bust Syndicate, Seizing 30,700 Pirated Discs
Hong Kong – On October 27, acting on information provided by Motion Picture Association (MPA) representative, the International Federation Against Copyright Theft – Greater China (IFACT-GC), officers from the Shenzhen Municipal General Culture Market Administrative Enforcement Task Force raided a shop and a warehouse located in Futian District, Shenzhen.
Officials seized 30,700 pirated optical discs in DVD and Advanced Video Codec High Definition (AVCHD) formats. 7,000 DVDs and 800 AVCHD discs were infringing 100 MPA member company titles including “Kung Fu Panda”, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”, “Wall·E” and “The Women” as well as TV series titles “24” and “Prison Break”. In addition, 5,900 pirated DVDs were infringing titles from Japan belonging to members of Japanese rights owners association CJ Mark Committee, including “Around 40”, “Detective Conan”, “The One Pound Gospel” and “Team Medical Dragon 2”.
The IFACT-GC represents the MPA and the CJ Mark Committee in Hong Kong and China and provided assistance to the Chinese authorities by examining the seized discs and confirming that they infringed copyright.
AVCHD is a high-definition and standard-definition recording format for use in digital tapeless camcorders and is compatible with Blu-ray disc players. These discs are the first ever seizures of the format in China.
“These discs are sheep in wolf’s clothing,” said Mike Ellis, President and Managing Director, Asia-Pacific for the MPA. “Consumers are being cheated twice – they are buying stolen movies, which are being peddled on fake Blu-ray format. The Blu-ray format offers a greatly enhanced viewing experience which consumers are just not going to get from these fake discs.”
“Consumers should not be fooled by these fake Blu-ray discs,” said IFACT-GC Executive Director and General Manager Sam Ho. “The price is a good guideline to quality – you get what you pay for and if the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. Consumers are advised to shop for genuine products in reputable retailers.”
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Piracy in Asia
A comprehensive study aimed at producing a more accurate picture of the impact that piracy has on the film industry including, for the first time, losses due to internet piracy, recently calculated that the MPA studios lost US$6.1 billion to worldwide piracy in 2005. About US$2.4 billion was lost to bootlegging*, US$1.4 billion to illegal copying* and US$2.3 billion to Internet piracy. Of the US$6.1 billion in lost revenue to the studios, approximate US$1.2 billion came from piracy across the Asia-Pacific region, while piracy in the U.S. accounted for US$1.3 billion.
In 2007, the MPA’s operations in the Asia-Pacific region investigated more than 36,200 cases of piracy and assisted law enforcement officials in conducting nearly 13,000 raids. These activities resulted in the seizure of more than 31 million illegal optical discs, 40 factory optical disc production lines and 6,400 optical disc burners, as well as the initiation of more than 10,000 legal actions.
*Bootlegging: Obtaining movies by either purchasing an illegally copied VHS/DVD/VCD or acquiring hard copies of bootleg movies. *Illegal copying: Making illegal copies for self or receiving illegal copies from friends of a legitimate VHS/DVD/VCD. *Internet piracy: Obtaining movies by either downloading them from the Internet without paying or acquiring hard copies of illegally downloaded movies from friends or family. About the MPA: The Motion Picture Association and Motion Picture Association - International (MPA) represent the interests of major motion picture companies in the global marketplace. On behalf of its member companies, the MPA conducts investigations around the world, assists with the criminal and civil litigation generated by such cases, and conducts education outreach programs to teach movie fans around the world about the harmful effects of piracy. The MPA directs its worldwide anti-piracy operations from its headquarters based in Los Angeles, California and has regional offices located in Brussels (Europe, Middle East and Africa), São Paulo (Latin America), Montreal (Canada) and Singapore (Asia-Pacific). The MPA’s anti-piracy activities have helped to transform entire markets from pirate to legitimate, benefiting video distributors, retailers, and foreign and local filmmakers alike. The MPA member companies include: Buena Vista International, Inc.; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Sony Pictures Releasing International Corporation; Twentieth Century Fox International Corporation; Universal International Films, Inc.; and Warner Bros. Pictures International, a division of Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. For more information about the MPA, please visit www.mpa-i.org. About the IFACT-GC: The International Federation Against Copyright Theft was established in 2006 by the Motion Picture Association to protect the film industry in the Greater China region from the adverse impact of copyright theft. IFACT-GC works closely with its supporters, government and enforcement authorities to protect the Greater China film and television industry, retailers and movie fans. For more information about IFACT-GC, please visit www.ifact-gc.org. |
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For more information, contact:
Edward Neubronner
MPA Asia-Pacific
65-6253-1033
Margaret Fu
MPA Asia-Pacific
852-2785-8677
Sam Ho
IFACT-GC
852-2785-0363