Publishers calling for copyright protection

Chinese publishers, from film producers to video and literature platforms, are calling for copyright protection as they fight the spread of illegal film clips and novels online.

In a proposal posted online, over 500 actors and actresses and more than 70 film and video firms urged a clean-up of unauthorized video clips.

The mini-videos are often collected and re-edited before being published on platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou without the permission of copyright owners.

Douyin and Kuaishou have not yet commented on the issue.

Migu, China Mobile’s content creation subsidiary, said copyright protection was essential for the industry’s healthy development. With the commercialization of 5G, cyberspace had become “a new main battlefield” for copyright protection, it said on Monday.

Migu is using new technology such as blockchain and digital watermarks to protect copyright.

China has been making continuous efforts to protect intellectual property rights, including introducing an upgraded Chinese Copyright Law which will take effect in June.

China’s online literature market revenue hit 28.84 billion yuan (US$4.46 billion) in 2020 but also suffered a loss of 6.03 billion yuan because of piracy, according to a white paper by Analysys International.

Piracy has become a “vampire” for the industry, said Shanghai-based China Literature.

Copyright protection directly affects the sustainability of creation and the high-quality development of culture, said Cheng Wu, the company’s CEO.