Artistes unite in protest
Taiwan's entertainment industry will stage a protest march against piracy for the first time today and all cinemas will be closed until 7pm.
Taiwan is a key market for Chinese entertainment products, but the legitimate sector has been heavily eroded by piracy in recent years.
In an unprecedented move, the industry has united to seek help from the Government in its battle against pirates. It is calling for tighter regulatory controls and enforcement to combat piracy.
More than 5,000 representatives from record labels, movie studios, television and radio stations as well as manufacturing and packaging companies were expected to join the march, said Robin Lee, chief executive of the Taiwan branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
The wholesale industry revenue from record labels was NT$10 billion (about HK$2.22 billion) in 1998, but it fell to NT$5 billion last year, Mr Lee said. The retail value of music sales dropped 9.2 per cent to US$108.2 million in 2000.
Mr Lee said: 'We cannot tolerate it anymore. The industry has been suffering from piracy since 1999. The situation has deteriorated recently as the economy has dampened.'
He said pirates took a market share of about 30 per cent to 35 per cent in 2000. This rose to 40 per cent to 45 per cent last year and now stood at 50 per cent.
At present, Taiwanese police carried out investigations into piracy activities only when they received complaints from copyright owners, Mr Lee said.
The industry wanted piracy laws to be strengthened, giving the police more power to tackle the problem.
