MPA, Taobao.com Reach Takedown Accord

Studios reach content protection understanding with Chinese content-sharing site

John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/7/2012 9:49:20 AM

Hollywood Studios have signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese online consumer-to consumer content distribution online marketplace Taobao.com to promote the sale of legitimate content, and weed out pirated or infringing content.

The Motion Picture Association, which represents MPAA studios internationally, said Friday it had reached a "common understanding" with Taobao.com -- one of the 20 most visited Web sites in the world, according to MPA -- about "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."

Those member companies include Paramount; Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; Universal City Studios LLC; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

The memorandum includes a take-down system for removing pirated or otherwise infringing content, according to MPA Asia Pacific Managing Director Mike Ellis.