Intellectual Property and Economic Development

[Dawei3]

In a previous discussion, the topic of intellectual property & economic development came up.  One perspective was that these laws inhibit economic development in developing countries.  I had pointed out that lack of IP protection fosters counterfeiting and can hurt economic development.  Both of these China has struggled with.    

 

The 11 Feb South China Morning Post has an example of how lack of IP protection hurts economically.  SCMP notes: 

 

"China’s latest blockbuster The Wandering Earth is making megabucks at the box office but is fighting a bigger threat than a looming explosion of the sun – a voracious piracy industry that is eating into its ticket takings.  

Pirated copies of the movie, which has earned over 2.1 billion yuan (US$311 million) in ticket sales since its release on Tuesday, the first day of the Lunar New Year, have flooded China’s internet. As a result, the space epic that was the highest highest-grossing film in the traditional peak box office period, can be bought online for as little as 1 yuan."

 

“In recent days, the staff of The Wandering Earth have not had time to celebrate the box office success, but have devoted almost all their energy to complaining to authorities about piracy and blocking pirated copies,”   https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2185703/chinese-sci-fi-blockbuster-wandering-earth-battles-horde

 

Weak enforcement of IP protection makes it hard for China to develop an international movie industry because their profits at home are stolen and this reduces money for international expansion.  

 

Weak IP protection also fosters counterfeit drugs and fakes of almost anything of value that can be copied.  Weak IP protection doesn't foster the kind of economic development desired by most countries.  

 

 

 

[DavyJonesLocker]

5 hours ago, Dawei3 said:

Pirated copies of the movie, which has earned over 2.1 billion yuan (US$311 million) in ticket sales since its release on Tuesday, the first day of the Lunar New Year, have flooded China’s internet. As a result, the space epic that was the highest highest-grossing film in the traditional peak box office period, can be bought online for as little as 1 yuan."

 

 

what does this mean, are they illegally showing it on video sharing apps or in cinemas etc?

 

I think this is misleading. In my view almost atrocious movie industry in China is not just related to the piracy problem. It's pretty widespread belief that producers and directors are just in it for the cash rather than love of making movies. My 2 gym buddies both work in the movie industry and are highly critical of the industry.

 

In any case movie piracy is rampant in the west but it hasn't deterred the movie industry despite all the prophecies of doom put out years ago. 

 

5 hours ago, Dawei3 said:

Weak enforcement of IP protection makes it hard for China to develop an international movie industry because their profits at home are stolen and this reduces money for international expansion.  

 

Weak IP protection also fosters counterfeit drugs and fakes of almost anything of value that can be copied.  Weak IP protection doesn't foster the kind of economic development desired by most countries.  

 

They fail to mention that a huge part of the chinese economy is hugely attributed to stealing western IP and copyrights (including movies) ?

 

 

[Dawei3]

Most American movies come from for-profit companies who want to make as much money as possible.  The most common metric to measure a movie's success is the money it brings in.  The US world dominance in movies  is part due to multiple factors, such as the fact that US culture encourages people to do what they like, but also because it has strict IP protection that allows the movie studios to make a profit in the US and this supports their world-wide effort.  

 

 

Businesses based in fraud are limited in scope and they suppress legal ones.  Despite that China has the world's largest economy, I can't think of a single Chinese brand in the US known for its quality.  Even my Chinese friends are hesitant to buy a drug from a Chinese company because they are so uncertain about the quality.  Only drugs made in China under the oversight of a foreign company would be acceptable.  Same is true with infant formula and many other products.  Selling access at 1 yuan suggests there isn't much revenue for those pirating films. 

 

China wants home-grown innovation now and has been trying to enforce IP protection.  It recognizes that without this, its entrepreneurs will spend much of their time fighting theft of their technology, as those involved with this movie are doing.