User sues iQiyi for restricted screen mirroring resolution on TV

Chinese video streaming platform iQiyi.com has been sued by a user after its mobile app restricted him only to mirror videos of 480p resolution on his TV, even though he had paid for iQiyi's monthly VIP subscription that should have given him full access to HD videos.

The user, surnamed Zhu from south China's Guangdong Province, said he had been an iQiyi's gold member for seven years, paying a yearly fee of 148 yuan (US$21.96). But on January 11, he was restricted to a mirroring resolution at only 480p.

If Zhu wanted to watch it at a higher resolution on TV, he would have had to upgrade his membership from gold to platinum, which costs 228 yuan (US$33.83) every year.

The app's mirroring function was one of the key factor that Zhu paid for iQiyi's yearly membership.

He understood the restriction the streaming site made was based on the whole streaming industry's trend, however, as a long-time user, he couldn't stand that his rights had been violated like this, he said in an interview.

Zhu believes that the streaming site had failed to fulfilled its contract and demanded that iQiyi not restrict mirroring function's resolution while he is still a paid member.

Zhu's lawyer, Zhao from Guangzhou Pingze Law firm, said they believe that the app's mirroring function is included in the contract that iQiyi needs to fulfill.

It is not the first time that iQiyi has been sued by its users.

In 2019, iQiyi introduced advanced on-demand service for their show Joy of Life. The service allowed viewers to pay to watch episodes ahead of the releasing schedule. But users don't have full control as the service is a package deal and viewers can't select specific episodes they want.

Lawyer Wu Shengwei from Shanghai wasn't happy with iQiyi's on-demand service and sued them. Being a paid member, Wu thought the site's on-demand service had violated their VIP member service agreement and asked the court to abrogate the on-demand service.

In June, 2020, Beijing Internet Court ruled that part of iQiyi's service agreement invalid and required the streaming site to give Wu 15 days' of their gold membership.

Wu stopping using iQiyi after the lawsuit.

He had hoped that his winning of the suit would stop iQiyi's unfair clause and protect users' rights better.

Other complaints users have of video apps

Other than the mirroring resolution and on-demand service, users of iQiyi also complain that the app won't allow them to use an HDMI cable to cast the app's content onto TV. iQiyi explained that they disabled such a function to prevent their content being recorded.

It has become a common practice for streaming sites and video apps to have different membership for their mobile apps and their TV apps. A lot of users have paid for membership but found later that the app needs a higher membership to view their content on TV.

Another major complaint that users have for video apps is that they have promised advertisement free viewing if users pay for the membership. However, when viewers use Tencent video to watch their trendy show Three-Body Problem, ads are still placed at the beginning and middle of every episode of the show.

For more than a decade, streaming sites and video apps have explored many ways to profit. This has definitely boosted their ability to make and purchase good content, through which they have built a stable tie with users.

However, the industry could only have a healthy development if they protect their paying members' rights fully, said one industry insider.