China cracks down on piracy of anniversary films

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-28 20:18

BEIJING: China has launched a crackdown on the piracy of domestic films especially made to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, including all-star epic "Jian Guo Da Ye" and spy thriller "Feng Sheng".

Any pirated copies of these films, once caught, will be confiscated, while production and marketing dens will be destroyed, according to a notice by the national work team on pornographic and illegal publications issued Monday on its website.

The audio-video products of "Jian Guo Da Ye", or "The Founding of A Republic", and "Feng Sheng", or "The message", are supposed to appear on market respectively on October 16 and November 13.

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"Any products of the two on the market before scheduled dates are pirated copies," the notice said.

According to the notice, press and publication departments across the country should notify local disk-copy companies not to carry out replication work for the two films. Only a few companies have been authorized for replication.

"Jian Guo Da Ye" and "Feng Sheng" are among a series of films dedicated to the 60th birthday of New China, and the notice said authorities would crack down on all pirated anniversary films.

"Jian Guo Da Ye" is a recounting of Chinese history from 1945 to 1949. Its box office has now hit more than 230 million yuan ($34 million) after its debut on September 16.

"Feng Sheng" tells the story of how the Japanese-controlled puppet government finds an undercover agent among five suspects during China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945). It will debut on Tuesday.