China Daily and Chinese news services, including Legal Daily, reported that an Online Legitimate Music Promotion Alliance 中国网络正版音乐促进联盟 has been established on January 29, 2015 in Beijing. The alliance brings together 30 companies and organizations including international music companies such as Sony and Warner, domestic music websites such as Kugou, Kuwo and 1ting and industry associations such like the Music Copyright Society of China and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, as well as songwriters such as Li Haiying 李海鹰.
Tencent which has a licensing arrangement with Warner Music, noted at the ceremony that the sustainable development of the music industry depends on copyright protection. Tencent urged legal steps, such as model cases to create deterrence, active administrative supervision, increasing damages for infringement, and increasing penalties. Other speakers noted the importance of advertisers working together to curtail placing advertisements on pirated sites, as well as enforcement actions. Beijing Copyright Bureau’s Wang Yefei 王野霏, a veteran of many copyright enforcement battles, was quoted by the Legal Daily as saying that it was important that “bad money not drive out good money” in copyright, and that the “trying time of walking a fine line in copyright has gone.” (网络音乐领域的版权乱象决不可能容忍它长期存在，一定不会让劣币驱逐良币，试图打擦边球的时代已经一去不复返了).
The Legal Daily article noted that according to the 2014 China Music Development Report (2014年中国音乐产业发展报告) there were 453 million internet music users in China in 2013. However, according to IFIPI data, total revenue from music in 2013 was about 500 million RMB, (82,600,000 USD), which is only a “several Chinese dimes” per user.
At the January 29 launch event, China’s National Copyright Administration’s Zhao Jie 赵杰 announced that online music and literary works are key areas for enforcement in 2015. These enforcement efforts build upon China’s existing “Sword Network” campaigns and other administrative actions to deal with on-line piracy.
This alliance also appears to be an important step in bringing together foreign and domestic rightsholders in IP.
