Warner Bros. Plan Targets DVD Piracy in China
Faced with the growing concern of DVD piracy, one of Hollywood's biggest movie studios is taking steps to fight the sale of illegally manufactured home videos in China.
In the coming months, Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Entertainment plans to release dozens of its films on DVD to retailers in China -- at deeply discounted prices. The studio's hope: that cheap and legitimate DVDs will compete effectively enough with their bootlegged counterparts to offset the losses the company has weathered from piracy.
Warner's move is among the most-aggressive step taken by a U.S. studio to hasten a legitimate DVD market in China. And it is emblematic of an industry-wide problem that has grown in recent years with the popularity of DVDs. The discs have been a savior for Hollywood, generating profit margins of 50% or more and providing a welcome bulwark to the hardships of the often-unpredictable movie business. But they are also far easier to copy than their predecessor -- the video cassette -- and have therefore made way for piracy.
In China piracy has been rampant. Although the Motion Picture Association of America and U.S. regulators are trying to crack down on bootleggers, legal inquiries may not be able to root out the problem. So, Warner is trying to change already entrenched consumer habits by competing with bootleggers on price.
This year, Warner plans to release more than 125 movies on DVD in China at below-market prices. Some will be bare-bones versions of the films that will be sold in China around the time of their U.S. theatrical release and priced at $2.65. Others, which will contain additional features such as more language selections, interviews with actors and behind-the-scenes footage will be priced at $3.38.
Those prices are higher than those on China's pirated DVD market, where the discs typically sell for $1 to $2. But Warner executives are betting that consumers will pay a premium for their DVDs, which contain the special features and will be of higher quality than the bootlegs.
"It's pretty daunting going into that market to release a legitimate product," says Warner Bros. chairman and chief executive Barry Meyer . "But we really think if we can get in there, we can be a part of the solution and not the problem."
Expecting "a blanket" with a few DVDs displayed on the street, Mr. Meyer was struck by the sophistication of the piracy business during a trip to Shanghai last fall, when he visited a bootleg shop. "Just about every single new movie that was in theaters was on the rack in China -- and looked like a legitimate product," he recalls.
In the months that followed, Warner executives hammered out an agreement with China Audio Video, the government entity that oversees retail and video-content licensing, to sell more DVD titles in legitimate shops. Those talks culminated recently in the deal to distribute more than 100 Warner titles.
Although a handful of Warner titles were released on DVD last November, including "Troy" and "The Last Samurai," the studio's sale of DVDs in China has been relatively small.
华纳兄弟欲用低价DVD应对中国盗版市场
对DVD盗版现象的日益担忧促使好莱坞一家大型制片公司采取措施，打击中国市场的盗版家庭影碟。
今后几个月中，时代华纳公司(Time Warner Inc)旗下的华纳兄弟公司(Warner Bros. Entertainment)计划在中国以很低的折扣价向零售商推出数十部DVD影碟。公司希望这些廉价的正版DVD能够有效与盗版者竞争，减少公司因盗版而蒙受的损失。
此举是美国制片公司为加快中国合法DVD市场的发展而采取的最积极的举措之一。近年来随著DVD的普及，盗版也成为全行业普遍面临的问题。DVD影碟对好莱坞功不可没，它带来了50%，甚至更高的利润率，给经常难以预测的电影业提供了良好的保护。但DVD影碟却比以前的录影带更容易复制，因而就使盗版大行其道。
中国的盗版现象一直非常猖獗。尽管美国电影协会(Motion Picture Association of America)和美国有关当局正在努力打击盗版现象，但法律途径可能不足以根除这一问题。因此，华纳兄弟决定在价格上与盗版者竞争，试图改变根深蒂固的消费者习惯。
今年，华纳兄弟计划在中国以低于市场价的价格发行125部以上的DVD影片，部分纯影片版将与美国影院同步推出，售价为2.65美元。还有部分影片将包含额外的内容，如可选择多种语言，对演员的采访以及幕后花絮等，售价为3.38美元。
这要高于中国盗版DVD一般1到2美元的售价。但华纳兄弟的管理人员断言，消费者将愿意以较高的价格购买该公司的DVD影碟，因为其影碟包含附加内容，质量也优于盗版碟。
华纳兄弟的董事长兼首席执行长梅耶(Barry Meyer)说，进入这样一个市场发行正版产品确实令人担心，但相信这样做终究会有助于问题的解决。
梅耶去年秋季访问上海，漫步街头时随意走入了一家盗版影碟店。那里的所见所闻让他大吃一惊：几乎每一部新片都有盗版DVD摆在货架上，看起来就像正版产品一样。
在此后的几个月中，华纳兄弟的管理人员同中国音像协会(China Audio Video)磋商，准备在合法的商店中销售更多DVD影片。最近双方达成协议，在中国分销100多部华纳兄弟的影片。
尽管华纳兄弟去年11月份推出了《特洛伊》(Troy)和《最后的武士》(The Last Samurai)等多部DVD影片，但该公司的DVD影碟在中国的销量却非常低。
