Hollywood Signs Pact With China to Curb Bootleg Films

A trade group representing the top Hollywood film studios has signed an anti-piracy pact with the Chinese government, in the hope of clamping down on the rampant bootlegging of DVDs.

The Motion Picture Association hailed the deal as progress against endemic piracy in China. The organisation claims that bootleg DVDs and videos cost the industry $3bn (£1.7bn) a year worldwide, even before internet piracy is considered.

Under the agreement, the MPA will send the Chinese authorities a list of film releases in China every three months. It said there would be tougher policing of films and prosecutions.

In an attempt to improve trade relations, Beijing said last month that it had arrested 2,600 people in an eight-month crackdown on piracy. China is viewed as the biggest producer in the world of counterfeit goods and the US trade secretary, Carlos Guiterrez, led a delegation to Beijing last week for talks on the protection of intellectual property. Mr Guiterrez has blamed piracy for the ballooning US trade deficit with China.

Unauthorised copies of the latest Star Wars film were available in Beijing days after its release in May. Pirated films are often available for just $1 in China before their release.

As a result, Hollywood has gone to some lengths to prevent rip-offs of its films. Last month, Warner Bros released the DVD of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants on the same day the film opened in American cinemas and in an effort to ensure that pirated copies did not make it back to the US or elsewhere, the Mandarin subtitles could not be hidden.

The film studios are also experimenting with cut-price DVDs to compete with the bootleggers.

The problem in China has been exacerbated by the lack of cinemas. There are only 2,500 screens among 1.3 billion people, although that is likely to improve. Warner Bros opened its first multiplex in China in 2002 and, as investment rules relax, it aims to build a chain to lure the Chinese to the big screen.