China's largest infringement case of online film and television works solved, illegal profits of 8 million yuan

after more than half a year of hard work, the largest copyright infringement case of a website in China was solved, and the once lively "Fast broadcast Cinema" was knocked out by the police.

after the release of the latest blockbuster, many people will choose to watch it in the cinema or wait for the TV station and video website that bought the copyright to broadcast it. However, some "onlookers" tend to watch in some pirated online cinemas. It seems to have picked up a "bargain", but it harms the healthy development of producers and video platforms that spend a lot of money to buy copyrights, as well as the film and television industry.

recently, the reporter learned from the Public Security Bureau of Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province that after more than half a year of hard work, the largest website copyright infringement case in China was solved, and the once lively "Fast broadcast Cinema" was knocked out by the police. It is reported that the infringing website is suspected of illegally distributing 34835 film and television works, the largest number of similar cases in China, from which the main suspects received more than 8 million yuan in illegal advertising. The case is also a key case supervised by the National Anti-pornography Office, the National copyright Administration and the Ministry of Public Security in 2017.

< strong > well-known blockbusters at home and abroad are frequently infringed < / strong >

on October 15, 2016, the Zhenjiang police reported to a number of film and television companies that "Fast broadcast Cinema" offered online broadcasting and downloading services on its website, including "Mekong Action", "Fast and Furious 7", which are copyrighted by Tencent Pictures, Universal Pictures of the United States, and Bona Pictures.

after preliminary investigation, the Zhenjiang Public Security Bureau set up a special case team to investigate the copyright infringement case of the "Fast broadcast Cinema" website. Due to the large amount and long duration of illegal broadcasting of film and television works, the case was listed by the National copyright Administration as one of the 10 typical cases of online infringement and piracy supervised by the National copyright Administration in 2016.

under the unified command of the Zhenjiang Public Security Bureau and with the assistance of the security team of the Tencent Guardian Plan, on November 2, 2016, the special case team made arrests in Changsha, Xiamen, and Guangzhou at the same time, successfully arrested Jiang and other three major criminal suspects, impounded 18 servers involved and frozen 3 bank accounts involved.

< strong > make a profit of 8 million yuan through illegal advertising < / strong >

"when new film and television works are shown, in addition to cinema chains and websites that buy copyright, many netizens like to look for resources on the Internet, and many illegal infringing websites emerge as the times require. Among them, 'Fast broadcast Cinema' was once very popular because of its high quality and fast updating speed. " Lu Zhendong, a police officer handling the case, told reporters that when infringing audio-visual works reached a certain number and profits reached a certain amount, they were suspected of committing crimes.

"Fast Cinema" focuses on the latest American film and television works to attract an audience. For example, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents (season 4) has a cumulative hit rate of more than 540000 times on Fast Cinema.

in addition, high-definition video appeared in Fast Cinema shortly after the release of Operation Mekong. Bona Pictures said the film suffered a box office loss of 300 million yuan to 500 million yuan due to illegal broadcasting.

if netizens watch it for free, how can the website make a profit? It depends on advertising. According to Lu Zhendong, Jiang, the main suspect in the "Fast broadcast Cinema" case, contacted online game companies, overseas gambling websites and other advertising merchants through webmaster mailboxes and forums. They rely on free videos to attract high popularity and earn more than 8 million yuan in illegal advertising.

< strong > illegal distribution of 34835 film and television works < / strong >

"in this case, a total of 18 servers were seized, including 13 in Zhenjiang and 5 in Xiamen, and 3 bank accounts were frozen." Fan limin, captain of the network security detachment of the Zhenjiang Public Security Bureau, told reporters that five servers in Xiamen are mainly responsible for operation, and 13 servers in Zhenjiang are mainly used as storage backups. The reason why lawbreakers choose the server in Zhenjiang is mainly because the network protection of the local server in Zhenjiang is high and is not vulnerable to attack.

the task force has found out that since January 2014, the suspect has illegally distributed 34835 film and television works such as "Fast broadcast Cinema", "mp4 Bar", "High definition Vision" and "Movie Taobao" on its website "Fast broadcast Cinema", "High definition Cinema", "High definition Vision" and "Movie Taobao" without the permission of the author, which is the largest of its kind in China.

the Beijing Representative Office of the Motion Picture Association of America expressed its appreciation for the successful detection of the case. the staff of the office said that four websites, including "Fast broadcast Cinema," illegally broadcast 1793 relevant American TV dramas, and the Chinese police launched a strong attack. the detection of this largest copyright infringement case on a website in China reflects the efforts made by the Chinese government in the field of intellectual property protection.

< strong > low infringement cost, no technical content < / strong >

"pirated" network cinema investment is low, the main cost is to rent a server. According to the reporter's understanding, the 13 servers rented by the suspect in this case in Zhenjiang rent 20, 000 yuan per month, and the 5 servers rented in Xiamen rent 8000 yuan. Suspects can rent a server through a third party and do not need them to handle it in person.

according to Lu Zhendong, online "pirated" cinemas have tutorials online, as long as they have basic computer knowledge. In the case, Jiang, 30, has only a high school education and has worked in the local telecommunications department of Hunan. The other two suspects all have junior high school degrees, and one of them has worked as a network manager.

according to suspect Jiang, part of the film and television resources on "Fast broadcast Cinema" are reproduced from other website resource stations, some are downloaded from the Internet and then released, and some are purchased from film dealers. The TC version of Operation Mekong cost only 200 yuan.

at present, all three suspects have been taken criminal compulsory measures, and the case is still under further investigation.

< strong > "Zero tolerance" for online piracy < / strong >

as a key case supervised by the National Anti-pornography Office, the National copyright Administration and the Ministry of Public Security in 2016, this case is the largest copyright infringement case uncovered by online film and television works in Jiangsu Province during the "sword net 2017" campaign. The successful detection of the case benefited from the unified cooperation of various government departments and the extensive support of enterprises and society.

in recent years, many blockbusters that have spent a lot of money have been pirated before their release. Piracy has a great impact on the production, promotion and distribution of films.

since the second half of last year, the State copyright Administration, the State Internet Information Office, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security and other departments jointly launched the "sword net operation" to crack down on unauthorized illegal dissemination of online film and television works and "zero tolerance" for online infringement and piracy.

Zhou Xuan, deputy researcher of the Zhenjiang copyright Bureau and director of the city's "fight against pornography and illegal publications" office, said: "the copyright infringement case of the website is of great harm, infringing upon the copyright of the right holders, disturbing the cultural market order, and causing the loss of national tax revenue."

Edit: xiongwei