Six major international film studios and Taobao Marketplace have agreed to work together to stop the sale and distribution of pirated movies, TV shows and other audiovisual content on China’s largest online shopping platform.
The overall goal of a memorandum of understanding signed by Taobao and the film studios’ representative, the U.S.-based Motion Picture Association (MPA), is “to promote a healthier online environment in China for the sale and distribution of legitimate audiovisual content,” according to a statement released today.
Both parties “have reached a common understanding regarding the importance of strengthening existing standards, mechanisms, and mutual responsibilities concerning the identification and removal of copies of MPA member company content from Taobao.com’s consumer-targeted e-commerce platform that the members have identified as counterfeit or otherwise infringing,” the joint statement said.
Taobao, a subsidiary of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, runs a vast online marketplace with more than 500 million registered users. Although the website has been flagged by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) as a “notorious market” for counterfeit goods sales, Taobao has in recent years stepped up efforts to monitor online storefronts for fakes and eject sellers of pirated products and content.
Headquartered in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., the MPA is an industry trade group that protects the intellectual property rights of its members in global markets. MPA members are Paramount Pictures; Sony Pictures Entertainment; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.; Universal City Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; and Warner
Source: Alizila.com
