China film piracy 'costs $2.7bn'

BBC World News
June 19, 2006

Piracy in China cost the film industry $2.7bn (£1.5bn) in 2005, according to a study by a major global movie body.

Around 93% of all films sold in China are pirated, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) study said.

The Chinese film industry was worst affected, losing around $1.5bn (£812m) to piracy, it said, while major US film studios lost around $565m (£306m).

According to the MPA report, almost 40% of the losses come from people downloading films on the internet.

"In terms of who's losing the most here in China, it's not the MPA's member companies, it's the local industry," MPA Asia Pacific head Mike Ellis said.

But the losses to US studios in China have risen since 2003, when the MPA estimated that film companies lost $168m (£91m).

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