China Still Struggling to Beat Content Piracy, Says Report
The Chinese film and TV industries continue to suffer from multiple forms of intellectual property piracy, according to a report from the Copyright Society of China. And piracy is weakening the media sector’s ability to compete.
The report, part of a seminar on Sunday, comes despite significant progress being made in the adoption of policies intended to underpin the growth of the country’s media and entertainment industries.
According to the Xinhua news agency, the report cited plagiarism and unauthorized broadcasting as common intellectual property problems.
The CSC said that the legal framework remains inadequate and that the copyright law remains the main plank of dispute resolution. Concepts of plagiarism and fair use remain poorly defined.
Furthermore, the weak protections for content creators and owners mean that screenwriters are poorly paid and have little incentive to improve the quality of their output. That results in poor quality TV shows and copycat films, which struggle to compete with the best foreign shows and movies. The market share for Chinese films so far this year at the Chinese box office is some 46.5%, down from last year’s 55% score.
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