SYDNEY -- Late last year, reps of the film and homevideo industries in Thailand set aside their customary differences and banded together in a rare show of unity. Their objective was to find ways to stem the losses that Thai and Western films routinely suffer at the hands of highly efficient homevideo pirates.
As a first step, the tradesters agreed to take unprecedented action by protecting the theatrical launch of "Bangrajan," a historical epic which traces Thailand's battles with Burma and the building of the Thai nation.
Exhibs agreed to prevent anyone from copying releases in their cinemas, to levy fines, and discontinue business with any cinema where a Thai film was copied.
The campaign was spectacularly effective: Released during the New Year vacation, "Bangrajan" grossed 100 million baht ($2.3 million) in its first three weeks. That equaled the entire sum earned by "Satree Lex," (The Iron Ladies) a local comedy about a transvestite volleyball team, which was released in summer. "Satree Lex"'s producers estimated the pirates knocked $697,000 from its potential B.O. No video compact disc (VCD) versions of "Bangragan" hit the market, unlike "Satree Lex."
The Thai case is just one example of growing efforts to contain -- no one pretends that total eradication is feasible -- the theft of intellectual property in Asia.
Progressive tactics help
Measured in raids on illegal CD and VCD plants and the seizure of counterfeit videos, significant progress was made last year, particularly in the most piracy-blighted markets of mainland China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Macau.
"We have made serious inroads into the problem but there is still an awfully long way to go," says Mike Ellis, Motion Picture Assn. Intl. VP and director of Asia/Pacific anti-piracy operations.
Hong Kong B.O. higher
"The anti-piracy campaigns are having an impact and that's being reflected in higher grosses, especially in Hong Kong," says United Intl. Pictures president-chief operating officer Andrew Cripps, who notes that another factor has been the upturn in most Asian economies in the past 12-18 months.
"Toy Story 2" reaped $4.7 million in Hong Kong last year, an all-time company record for BVI, beating "The Rock," a result that is partly attributable to the clamp-down on piracy, according to Disney execs. UIP's "Mission: Impossible 2" racked up a strapping $4.6 million.
By Ellis' reckoning, counterfeit product accounted for 25% of the overall homevideo business in that territory, down from 35% in 1999.
In Malaysia and Singapore, however, distribs stick to the policy of releasing many foreign titles right after their domestic debuts to limit the window in which counterfeit vid merchants can hurt a film's B.O. potential.
Improvement in Malaysia
G.M. of Golden Screen Cinemas in Malaysia Irving Chee says: "Quick release of films helps the local B.O. as it minimizes the effect of piracy; VCDs generally are still available before or at the same time as our releases."
Chee adds that he hopes the stiffer penalties for offenders of the optical disc legislation passed in September will aid in the fight against piracy. It goes into full effect once a yearlong period granted manufacturers to comply with the policy expires.
Chee is also optimistic about a slight improvement in Malaysian B.O. this year as anti-piracy efforts gain momentum; nationwide receipts declined 8% in 2000.
Final figures are not tabulated yet, but Elllis says more than 20 million discs of the Motion Picture Assn. members' product were impounded by authorities in the region last year. That number was slightly up on 1999's seizures, although below the 1998 tally, which was abnormally high as one raid of a Hong Kong factory alone netted 22 million discs.
More than 80 duplication factories in the region were targeted in police raids last year.
Counting losses
The MPA calculates its members lost $558 million in revenues due to piracy in Asia in 1999; no comparable figure for 2000 has been disclosed yet. Its stats do not include illegal versions of nonmajors' product. In China, for example, Ellis quotes industry estimates that 40 million-50 million discs (video, music and software) from all sources were impounded last year. About 8 million VCDs and DVDs of Hollywood films were seized.
For years, some Asian governments appeared to be half-hearted in their approach to piracy, thinking that the underground trade employed a lot of locals and that the rich Hollywood studios seemed the only losers. That mindset has changed palpably.
"Governments (generally) are treating the issue of copyright protection seriously and that's reflected in the amount of raids and seizures we're seeing," Ellis says.
And as the Thai tradesters demonstrated, the industry itself has the ability to restrict the pirates' freedom.
"The industry in Thailand has banded together very successfully and very quickly, which begs the question whether elements of the industry are involved in piracy," opines one Asian film exec, who requested anonymity.
No definate end
According to the exec, the problem of piracy in Asia is not one that will be completely solvable, it will always be there to some degree.
"In Singapore, the problem has gone underground, whilst in Malaysia and Thailand, the discs are still readily available in the streets and even shop-ping malls," the exec continues. "In Hong Kong, the efforts of the MPA and the local authorities have been commendable and successful. But once policing is reduced, the problem will immmediately come back.
"The real fight must be at government level, as in some cases, elements of the military or political cronies are behind the production (of counterfeit videos). Until the issue gets that level of importance, I don't think we'll see a definitive fix to the problem.
"As cinema operators, the key thing is to make sure we consistently offer a better experience, but even this will only be of use for the real big films, whilst average titles fall victim to the pirates."
Some sellers of indie films also endeavor to forestall street merchants by releasing films quickly. Melanie Kilgour, president of marketing and distribution at Canada's Prophecy Entertainment, often delivers prints to Asian buyers before she supplies U.S. distribs.
"Piracy will never go away but it can be regulated by careful selection of the people with whom we do business, and by getting films out there first," she says.
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com