Society

Chinese website sued for spreading new blockbuster

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-31 00:49

BEIJING - VeryCD.com, a leading Chinese website offering free movie and music downloads, was sued over illegally spreading the latest martial art film "Ip Man 2," an official with the China Film Copyright Protection Association (CFCPA) said Friday.

"The association and the film's producing company have jointly filed a civil lawsuit to the Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court against VeryCD," CFCPA chairman Zhu Yongde said Friday at a press conference.

The plaintiff demanded compensation of 11.85 million yuan (1.73 million U.S. dollars) from the Shanghai-based website. The figure was based on click-through rates at various download websites, the film's box office and the average ticket price for the film, Zhu said.

Ip Man 2, starring Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen and English actor Darren Shahlavi, tells the story of Ip Man, a renowned Chinese martial arts master.

The film started screening on April 29 across the mainland, where pirated DVDs and free online film and music download services can be easily found.

An Xiaofen, president of the film's producing company Desen International Media Co., Ltd, said the film's electronic files were found as early as May 4 at VeryCD.com and attracted tens of thousands of downloads in an hour.

Previous reports said the film, raking in 230 million yuan as of June 3, topped box office charts for Chinese films in the first half of 2010.

Another two websites, 365pub.com and cnnip.com, were also sued by the CFCPA for allegedly continuing to provide viewing and download services of various films to Internet cafes after being ordered to suspend such services.

Also at the conference, Sun Jianhong, legal advisor with the Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, said pirate DVD copies and electronic files already appeared on the Internet before the mainland premiere of "Aftershock," the latest work by director Feng Xiaogang.

Sun said the Huayi Brothers, the film's producing company, is also planning a lawsuit.

Figures from the society show that more than half of Chinese people aged between 18 to 35 watch films from the Internet. With each one watching an average of 31.1 films online per year, some could download as many as 500 or more.

The CFCPA, a non-profit organization formed by film companies, was established in 2005. The association aims to provide copyright assistance and protection for its members.