Hollywood studios sue Chinese stores for movie piracy
Six major Hollywood studios have sued two Chinese stores for allegedly selling illegal copies of their movies, in a step targeting the rampant piracy of films in China. Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Warner Bros., and Columbia Pictures teamed up to sue two Beijing retail stores, seeking 1.98 million yuan ($247,000) in damages.
Over 90 percent of movies sold in China on DVD are pirated, according to the Motion Picture Association, which announced the suit today. China produces 70 percent of the world's counterfeit goods. About 45 percent of all media bought by Chinese consumers last year–books, films, music, and software–were pirated.
Scholars of intellectual-property rights in China say this suit reflects a new approach in the way overseas companies are trying to protect their rights in China. "This is U.S. industry calling the Chinese government's bluff," says Bob Yoches, a partner with the law firm Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner, which specializes in intellectual property. "The government has been saying, 'We've cleaned up our act,' and the plaintiffs are basically saying, 'Let's see if that's true.' If they are successful, this would be a major breakthrough."
Chinese courts have ruled in favor of foreign companies before, most recently awarding French luxury-goods manufacturer Louis Vuitton 150,000 yuan ($18,750) in a suit against a Chinese market selling fake handbags. But in the past, when companies have won suits against Chinese manufacturers, they have often found themselves with a "right without a remedy," because police trying to enforce the award might raid a warehouse and arrive to find it empty.
The Chinese government has been stepping up its efforts against piracy this year, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. As part of a 100-day crackdown that began a month earlier, Chinese police announced they had confiscated more than 6 million pirated publications by the end of August. During this time, according to the Ministry of Public Security, police around the country raided more than 32,000 publishing and distribution companies, closing down 355.