You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 391 Shake Each Other
“It is nothing new for rights holders to initiate the establishment of an anti-piracy alliance.”

"Before this, large and small anti-piracy alliances were spread all over the country. For example, the Beijing 15-society Anti-Piracy Alliance and the Chinese Online Anti-Piracy Alliance were both very vigorous when they were first established, and the whirlwind of rights protection was unstoppable."

"In just a few years, most of these alliances, big and small, disappeared, and the few that remained also gradually became quiet."

"Is it possible that the China Online Video Anti-Piracy Alliance will be as successful as other previous alliances in terms of making a lot of noise but not getting any results? I'm afraid we are not optimistic."

"First, the difficulty faced by the Internet Video Anti-Piracy Alliance is the lack of mass support. Although everyone agrees that maintaining genuine products is a just act, netizens are still privately full of affection for video websites suspected of piracy. In the era of rampant piracy, many people have had the experience of buying pirated discs."

"With the development of the Internet, downloading pirated videos has become a trend... When the American TV series Prison Break was popular, the Chinese subtitle group created a scene where the new episodes were almost translated and transmitted simultaneously."

"It also means that Prison Break, which has never been shown in mainland China, has a large number of fans in China. The star of Prison Break, Miller, nicknamed 'Miller' by fans, was invited by domestic manufacturers to be the spokesperson. Perhaps 'Miller' should first thank the 'Chinese Subtitle Group' for their hard and selfless work, then thank the major video download software providers, and finally of course thank those video websites for their wide dissemination. Without their efforts, there would be no 'Miller' today."

"Secondly, in addition to popular support, online video piracy also has the 'umbrella' of law. Low compensation for online infringement, difficulty in obtaining evidence, and the safe harbor principle provide breeding ground for piracy. This is another problem faced by the Online Video Anti-Piracy Alliance. Piracy is also a helpless move by video websites. They have to bear huge expenditure costs every month, and the websites lack profit-making means. It is also very difficult to insist on genuine products. Insisting on genuine products costs a lot of money, and secondly, unauthorized films cannot be introduced, and it is difficult to attract popularity."

"The above two problems will not be improved in the short term. Therefore, although Sohu has formed a large anti-piracy alliance and started a massive rights protection action, it is still difficult to face the pirated websites with a strong mass base and a strong fortress. The litigation process may become slow and complicated, the litigation costs will increase day by day, and the amount of compensation may be unsatisfactory. Over time, the anti-piracy alliance will inevitably slow down its offensive, and perhaps it is the fate of the video anti-piracy alliance to gradually fade away."

Qin Shaoyan couldn't help but applaud the article in his hand, "What a talent! The angle of this article is so tricky."

If you don’t have some skills in journalism these days, you really can’t make it. You are not in the same league as the useless people in later generations who can only copy and paste.

Look at how the article was written. The angle chosen really surprised Qin Shaoyan.

Of course, the article managed to save face at the end by criticizing piracy for being bad and damaging the interests of film and television producers.

Will netizens care about this?

It's impossible, okay?

They generally believe that piracy is justified, as it can provide free spiritual food, entertain the public and spread culture.

The whole article seems to express support for the anti-piracy stance and appears to be reasonable.

But this is not the focus of the whole article at all. The previous long paragraph has already exposed the purpose of this article.

What it simply means is that netizens do not support anti-piracy, anti-piracy is difficult, and it is not easy for video websites either. Anyway, the alliance will not last long.

What is most distressing is that the article uses "Prison Break" as an example, saying that without the efforts of subtitle groups and pirated websites, this American drama and its leading actors would not be so popular in China.

This is one of the favorite excuses used by pirates.

I do piracy to help you spread your influence. Without my help, you wouldn't be so popular. We help each other.

What's more, even if you sue, you won't get much money even if you win, so why bother with it?

This is also the most difficult part of anti-piracy, as it is difficult to protect rights, has high costs and low returns.

On the contrary, piracy is a low-cost, high-profit thing.

Zhang Chaoyang, who was sitting next to him, was very unhappy and said indignantly: "Boss Qin, you see, these pirates still think they are quite reasonable. They are challenging us!"

"This is no longer an ordinary colleague, we must strike hard!"

Qin Shaoyan nodded with a smile on his face. "It's just an article. It won't amount to anything. Mr. Zhang, don't worry about it."

"But this also shows that the other party is guilty and dares not confront us head-on, so they can only create such marginal public opinion."

"If this is the only trick the opponent has, then it's our turn now."

"Just do as Mr. Zhang said, and deliver a powerful blow this time!"

"We must not only continue to build momentum in public opinion, but also continue to attract film and television companies and copyright holders to join us, and it would also be good to let them cheer us on."

"More importantly, we must take up legal weapons to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of copyright holders!"

Zhang Chaoyang hesitated for a moment, but it was not because he was afraid of a lawsuit.

Forming an anti-piracy alliance to file a lawsuit is a necessary procedure, and he has already made preparations and found a lawyer.

But isn't it a bit early to initiate a lawsuit now? They just spread some news in the public opinion, and before anything happens, they directly file a lawsuit. It seems that the anti-piracy alliance has no other tricks up its sleeve and is too impatient.

"Boss Qin, we have to file this lawsuit," Zhang Chaoyang said slowly after a moment's hesitation. "But you have to be prepared. The litigation process will be long, and the final compensation may not be much."

Qin Shaoyan's Qvod.com, as the largest copyright holder on the Internet, suffered the most damage and the compensation it may receive in the end may not even be a fraction of the litigation costs.

"Don't worry about these details." Qin Shaoyan waved his hand nonchalantly, "The lawsuit is to show our attitude against piracy, not just for compensation."

"We not only want to file a lawsuit, but we want to fight it vigorously, so that our opponents are terrified, and we want to publicize it with great fanfare."

"Not only that, we will also expand the scope of our crackdown. We will not only sue pirated websites, but also advertisers who place ads on pirated websites!"

"Doesn't Youku.com have that Coca-Cola ad? Send a lawyer's letter to Coca-Cola! Sue it as well!"

When Zhang Chaoyang heard this, his eyes widened. Mr. Qin, this move of yours is too cruel.

But this is still a good idea.

If advertisers are scared, no one will be willing to place advertisements on those websites.

In this day and age, if a website has no advertising revenue, then there is basically no need for this website to exist.

Unless the website can find new ways to make money.

The income of video websites comes either from advertising, membership fees, or copyright distribution.

Apart from the advertisements, the remaining two have nothing to do with pirated websites.

To hit a snake, hit it at its most vulnerable part. Qin Shaoyan's move hit the video website right at that vulnerable part.

There are a lot of advertisements on video websites nowadays, which is even more outrageous than it was twenty years ago.

No one knows who spread Qin Shaoyan's method of inserting advertisements, but video websites are desperately adding advertisements in order to make money.

Air a video with just as many commercials as on TV.

When the video is downloaded from the website server, there will be an advertisement. When you press the pause button in the middle of the video, another advertisement will pop up.

A 40-minute TV series is often divided into three parts, with ads inserted almost every 15 minutes. When playing videos, many web pages are full of traps. When you want to move your mouse away from the video window, you accidentally click on the web page, and the web page ads that pop up still occupy almost the entire screen.

"Okay! Let's sue the advertisers as well!" Zhang Chaoyang also figured it out at this time. Now that they have already torn their relationship apart, there is nothing to worry about.

"Boss Qin, when will Qvod.com make its position known to the outside world?" Zhang Chaoyang changed the subject and asked, "We and Yiku.com have both clearly supported the fight against piracy."

"We will catch up with everyone's pace immediately." Qin Shaoyan said happily, "The timing was not right before. Now is the best time for us to speak out."

"By the way, Mr. Zhang, we have to bring administrative agencies into our anti-piracy alliance, otherwise we won't be able to do anything about advertising."

Things like public opinion confrontations and copyright lawsuits are just minor details and cannot hurt the main point at all.

The truly lethal method is the intervention of administrative agencies.

As long as there is strong support from the administrative agencies, those video websites will have no choice but to join the anti-piracy alliance.

Zhang Chaoyang nodded and said, "I have already contacted the China Copyright Association, Beijing Copyright Bureau and other organizations, and we will attend the establishment ceremony of the Anti-Piracy Alliance together."

"Can we also invite the leaders of the radio and television? Video websites have the closest relationship with the radio and television." Qin Shaoyan suggested.

"Of course I have considered this." Zhang Chaoyang said, "I am still contacting people in the film and television industry. I will contact them first and then contact the radio and television industry."

Qin Shaoyan thought for a moment and said, "It would be better to call the leader of the Information Department."

"Hmm?" Zhang Chaoyang frowned. "Isn't the anti-piracy issue related to the Ministry of Information?"

"It's not a big deal, but our video website is part of the Internet and is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Information." Qin Shaoyan added. "Okay!" Zhang Chaoyang stood up from his chair. "This time it's our turn. Let's see how they can hold on."

Zhang Chaoyang left with full confidence.

The anti-piracy alliance can be said to be strong and powerful, carrying the politically correct banner of combating piracy. In the industry, it has the largest video website QVOD and Yiku.com, a subsidiary of Microsoft, as its allies.

Outside the industry, the film, television and entertainment circles are cheering. As long as the relationship with the administrative agencies is straightened out, the video website peers will have no ability to fight back at all and can only sit and wait for death.

……

With the help of both sides, topics related to the "Anti-Piracy Alliance" have set off waves of public opinion on the Internet.

First, Sohu loudly promoted "industry self-discipline, protection of intellectual property rights, resistance to piracy, and maintenance of the market environment", and directed its attack at other video websites.

Sohu's news content is forwarded on major portals and published in print media, occupying the mainstream public opinion position.

Then, small and medium-sized video websites, led by Tudou and Youku, launched ghostwriters and began to spread various soft articles on major forums and bulletin boards on the Internet, denouncing the practices of the "Anti-Piracy Alliance" and winning the support of public opinion from the majority of netizens.

One side is waving the banner of political correctness with self-confidence, while the other side relies on the support of the people and their large numbers.

The two sides' quarrel in public opinion is just a verbal attack on each other. Although the voices seem loud, the harm to each other is limited.

Next, Yiku.com followed suit and announced its support for Sohu.com, while claiming that it had reached an agreement with Qvod.com.

It will acquire the copyright of Qvod's film and television resource library at a price of US$15 million per year.

When this news was disclosed, it immediately caused an uproar.

The figure of $15 million shocked everyone.

On the one hand, everyone is envious of Yiku.com's wealth, but on the other hand, they also realize that copyright is so valuable.

Other video websites were a little confused. Fifteen million US dollars a year was enough to cover the operating costs of their websites, and there was even some left over.

Qvod made a lot of money quietly, while the bosses of other video websites are still worried about financing, which makes them envious so much that their eyes bleed.

At the same time, they also deeply realized how expensive copyright is. They are not Yiku.com, which has Microsoft's financial support behind it.

If they really want to go all-in on legal products, they can't even afford $1.5 million, let alone $15 million.

Without copyright, there is no content. Without content, the website cannot attract users and can only wait for death.

It takes time to implement the UGC model, and they don’t have the time.

This is a life-and-death struggle.

On the other hand, the film and television industry and the entertainment industry have also been stimulated.

They didn't expect that the price of Internet copyrights would increase to this extent. They had lost a lot of money by selling the copyrights at such a low price before.

The fight against piracy must be done, and it must be done on a large scale!
If all video websites use genuine products, their copyright would skyrocket.

Although they have sold their exclusive Internet copyright to Qvod, they still have TV series and movies to shoot in the future.

The film and television companies quickly stood together with the "Video Website Anti-Piracy Alliance" and they also followed suit in public opinion, denouncing the rampant piracy websites.

With the participation of film and television companies, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television quickly resolved the issue.

Sohu immediately held a launching ceremony for the "China Online Video Anti-Piracy Alliance" and invited hundreds of representatives from the Radio, Film and Television Administration, Beijing Copyright Bureau, China Copyright Association, Qvod, Yiku, major film and television organizations, and legal professionals to attend.

The launch ceremony was grand and spectacular. Zhang Chaoyang talked extensively about copyright protection at the ceremony, which drew rounds of applause.

Taking advantage of the lively atmosphere, Zhang Chaoyang handed the microphone to Qvod CEO Kou Hongfei and asked him to say a few words.

We, Sohu and Yiku.com, have both spoken out, but you, Qvod, have remained silent. It’s time for you to make a statement now.

Although Kou Hongfei was a little nervous, fortunately, President Qin had prepared for him in advance, so he was able to cope with it.

On behalf of Qvod, he announced that he would actively crack down on piracy and refuted certain remarks on the Internet.

The rampant piracy not only harms the interests of copyright holders, but is also harmful to Internet users in the long run.

They all resort to piracy, which means the producers can’t recoup their costs. If this continues, who will produce content in the future? No one will have anything to watch.

However, many netizens scoffed at this. Their attitude was that they wanted me to pay for it, which was absolutely impossible.

A group of people who just like to have fun mocked Yiku.com for being a sucker for spending so much money. At the same time, some people also questioned whether Yiku.com and Qvod.com were colluding to hype up the issue and deceive everyone.

Various spoof jokes appeared on forums such as Tianya and Mop, making fun of Yiku.com and Qvod.com.

However, video websites such as Tudou and Youku are not happy at all.

Because they received notice from advertisers that they would remove their advertisements.

Not only did they remove the advertisement, but what confused them the most was that the other party asked them to return their money.

"Refund?!" Liu Yan from Room 6 almost crushed the teacup. "Why do you want a refund?!"

Gu Yongqiang of Youku.com snorted coldly, "Why? Because they received a letter from Sohu's lawyer, saying that if they don't withdraw the advertisement, they will sue them as well."

"Fuck you!" Liu Yan was completely shocked. "How the hell can you play like this?"

"It's fine if you sue me, but why are you suing the advertisers as well?"

"This is going to kill us!"

Wang Wei of Tudou.com said gloomily, "They just want to kill us."

"The method is too cruel!" Li Shanyou of Ku6 also denounced, "It is too unethical. How could Zhang Chaoyang do this!"

Liu Yan gritted his teeth and said, "He is unkind and I am unjust, so we will fight to the death."

"How do you fight? What do you use to fight?!" Gu Yongqiang snorted coldly and retorted.

"If he can sue, we can sue too!" Liu Yan said angrily, "They must have pirated content too! We are suing them. They keep saying they are against piracy, but their own website also has pirated content. I don't know how they can put their faces down."

"That would mean we've been completely fooled." Gu Yongqiang interrupted Liu Yan. "Even if we win the lawsuit, it won't solve the problem at all. They just want to drag us to death."

“Now we have to solve the advertiser problem.”

"This won't work, and that won't work either. What do you think we should do?" Liu Yan asked back.

Wang Wei was silent for a while, then he sighed and said, "Just call someone."

"Call someone?" Liu Yan was stunned. "Who?"

"Contact the Ministry of Information Industry. The leaders can't just watch the entire industry get ruined by him." Wang Wei said calmly, "As long as the leaders come forward to mediate, the other party won't dare to do anything too extreme."

"That's a good idea." Gu Yongqiang sighed, "The sooner this happens, the better."

In life-and-death situations, people can unleash infinite potential. The "Anti-Qvod Alliance" took action right after its discussion in the morning.

In the afternoon, Kou Hongfei of Qvod received a notice from the department, asking him to attend a meeting and talk with representatives of the industry.

Kou Hongfei was a little confused and immediately called Qin Shaoyan for instructions.

Qin Shaoyan was also a little surprised, "Hey, the leaders came out a little too quickly."

"Don't worry about this. I'll go to the department and talk to the leaders myself."

(End of this chapter)