On April 4, Taiwan's film and music industries and other branches of the entertainment industry sponsored a demonstration in Taipei to protest against the rampant piracy that has seriously damaged their interests.
In response to the industry requests, Premier Yu Shyi-kun has promised to bring copyright laws within the scope of the Criminal Code in order to stiffen the penalties for copyright offenses. To the local film industry, the protection of intellectual property rights is an urgent task that brooks no delay. The problem is aggravated by what has become another threat to the domestic film industry -- the dumping of Hollywood movies.
Music and video piracy remain the most serious problem. The latest report from the Office of the US Trade Representative indicates that commercial piracy is still sufficiently rife in Taiwan for the nation to be included once again on the US "Special 301" list. On March 30, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry published an annual report, saying that more improvements are needed concerning Taiwan's piracy problem.
Examining the situation facing the local film industry, the piracy rate on domestically-produced films has increased from 20 percent in the past to almost 50 percent. As a result, the number of theaters in Taiwan has plunged from a peak of 500 to a mere 160. The number of video shops has also decreased, from 7,000 to 2,000.
The local film industry is also seriously threatened by the Hollywood movies that dominate the US-invested multiplex cinemas -- such as Warner Village in Taipei. Facing competition from the foreign film industry, both in terms of "software" and "hardware," it is crucial that we preserve our own space in the industry and preserve cultural memories in order to boost the domestic film industry.
Last year, many people condemned the closure of the China Cinema (
Preservation for cultural reasons is nothing new. The former cinema-turned Red House Cinema Museum (
With the local film industry faced with piracy and the dumping of Hollywood movies through US-invested multiplexs, film industry employees have been thrown out of their jobs. The government and the world of culture must act quickly to save our local theaters. They should also charge these theaters with the responsibility for showing Chinese-language films only.
Liu Li-hsing is a professor of communication arts at Fu Jen Catholic University. Chen Chia-chang is an assistant research fellow at the National Policy Foundation.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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