Focus

Internet movie fans fear twist in the tale

By Jiang Xueqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-18 07:48

New policy to fight piracy ignites controversy. Jiang Xueqing in Beijing looks at the looming copyright charge.

As a migrant worker on a tight budget, Zhang Jie spends a lot of spare time in Internet cafes watching movies.

The last thing he needs is for the cost to go up.

"People like me can afford 4 yuan ($0.60) an hour at most," said the 26-year-old salesman, as he sat watching the 1987 comedy A Chinese Ghost Story at 520 Casual Internet Cafe in Beijing.

"If the cafe starts charging 5 yuan or more, people will stop coming," he warned.

Zhang's fear about a price hike follows news that the China Film Copyright Association (CFCA) will soon hit wang ba (the Chinese term for Internet cafes) and long-distance bus companies with a set monthly fee for screening Chinese movies.

The levy, which will come into force on Jan 1, is being touted as a weapon against piracy.

Yet, cafe owners have slammed the move, claiming it is an unfair tax aimed at the wrong people.

Sun Jingbin, manager of 520 Casual and its 120 or so desktop computers, estimated at least 20 percent of its customers watch movies on the cafe's server.

However, since 2008, 520 Casual has paid 2,400 yuan a year to 365pub.com, the Shanghai-based company that installed the server, for downloads and maintenance. Under the contract, Sun said 365pub.com is responsible for obtaining copyright permission and handling legal issues.

It is a deal many wang ba nationwide have entered into, prompting many owners to ask why they are being forced to pay two copyright charges.

"We were told by (365pub.com) they have copyright licenses for these movies," said Sun. "If there's a problem, the association should ask the movie providers for a payment or compensation, rather than coming to us."

But the new regulations do not stipulate who should pay the royalties, Internet cafes or movie service providers, "so we'll just take whichever is more convenient", said Li Guomin, secretary-general of the CFCA.

"It's definitely easier to start with Internet cafes," he added.