BIZCHINA> Top Biz News
|
BIZCHINA> Top Biz News
|
|
Web video piracy war heats up
By Wang Xing (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-28 09:02 Last year, the company signed a contract with CCTV to obtain official rights to broadcast the Olympic Games. This month, Sohu.com launched a online video channel that streams authorized documentaries via the Internet. Experts said as Chinese news portal websites expand in the video-sharing market, the competition over video content is going to be even fiercer. Advertisers sued Unlike previous lawsuits, the lawsuit filed by the China Online Video Anti-Piracy Alliance also is targeting advertisers. The group accused Coca-Cola's Chinese subsidiary of airing advertisements for its Minute Maid brand during broadcasts of the domestic TV series Wang Gui Yu An Na on Youku.com. The lawsuit is seeking 686,386 yuan in compensation from Coca Cola and Youku.com. Yu Guofu, a lawyer with Beijing's Sam & Partners law firm, said it is unusual for copyright owners to launch lawsuits against advertisers who post advertisements on websites with unauthorized video content. The action, even if lacking solid legal support, might scare some advertisers away from websites such as Youku.com and Tudou.com, he said. As part of its effort to reduce its reliance on online revenues, Youku.com will launch a new service that offers live-streaming shows. The first show will be Stream with Deyunshe, hosted by a popular Chinese talk show group in China. Online viewers will be charged 10 yuan to view each show. Analyses International said the new service is expected to enjoy a huge market in China, since "most of the online users in China are willing to pay for exclusive video contents." (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
|
