当前位置

: 英语巴士网行业英语外贸英语行业英语内容详情

2007年3月21日 诉讼没有减弱中国盗版DVD势头

1

外国人搬到上海后,就会获知一些有关受欢迎购物场所的小技巧——去家乐福(Carrefour)买食品和蔬菜,去宜家(Ikea)买简单家具,去 (Ka de Club)买盗版DVD。

When foreigners move to Shanghai, they receive tips on the popular places to buy things – Carrefour for food and vegetables, Ikea for basic furniture and Ka de Club for fake DVDs.

销售好莱坞(Hollywood)大片的盗版碟,在上海是笔大买卖,而卡迪俱乐部一直是移居中国的外国人和游客追捧的地方。

Pirated copies of Hollywood blockbusters are big business in the city, and Ka de Club has been the popular haunt for expatriates and tourists.

但它的恶名也使其成为众矢之的。在美国电影协会(Motion Picture Association)的支持下,几家好莱坞电影公司正准备起诉这家商店,这既突显出中国法律体制的迅速变革,也表明试图通过法院采取果断行动还存在相当大的限制。

But its notoriety has made it a target. Backed by the Motion Picture Association, several Hollywood studios are trying to sue the shop in a lawsuit which highlights both the rapid changes in China’s legal system and the considerable limitations of trying to achieve decisive action through the courts.

好莱坞电影公司在本月宣判的案件中胜诉,法院判定这家商店出售《魔戒1:魔戒再现》(Lord of the Rings)和《超人特工队》(The Incredibles)盗版DVD的行为侵犯了版权。然而,法院判决的损害赔偿金仅为2.5万元人民币——略高于3200美元。电影公司的索赔金额为160万元人民币。美国电影协会驻亚洲的律师弗兰克?里特曼(Frank Rittman)表示:“我们对赔偿金数目如此之少很是失望,这些钱只相当于那些罪犯做这种买卖付出的微不足道的成本。”

In a judgment handed down this month, the studios won a ruling that the shop was guilty of copyright infringement for selling pirated DVDs of Lord of the Rings and The Incredibles. Yet the court also awarded damages and costs of just Rmb25,000 – a little more than $3,200. The studios had sought damages of Rmb1.6m. “We are disappointed at the paltry amounts of the awards, which amount to only a negligible cost of doing business for these criminals,” said Frank Rittman, the MPA’s legal counsel in Asia.

在美国就大量假冒商品贸易问题施加的压力下,中国建立了一个起诉侵犯知识产权行为的框架,国内外公司正越来越多地试图利用这一框架。中国最高人民法院(Supreme People’s Court)的数据显示,中国2005年共受审13424件涉及知识产权保护的案件。

Under pressure from the US over its huge trade in fake goods, China has set up a framework for prosecuting intellectual property violations, which foreign and local companies are increasingly trying to use. According to the Supreme People’s Court of China, 13,424 cases were filed in 2005 concerning intellectual property protection.

电影行业越来越多地通过法院向DVD零售商提起诉讼,去年提起诉讼的案件有16件,其中4件针对卡迪俱乐部提起的诉讼尚未结案。

The film industry has increasingly pursued DVD retailers through the courts, filing 16 complaints last year, including four outstanding ones against Ka de Club.

但公司和律师们表示,虽然法院往往会判他们胜诉,判罚结果却无助于改变现状。罚款数额非常少,处以的有期徒刑通常会缓期执行。

But companies and lawyers say that while the courts often uphold their cases, the penalties do little to change the situation. Fines are only modest and prison sentences often suspended.

“中国付出了大量努力来建立一个知识产权法律框架,”美迈斯律师事务所(O’Melveny & Myers)中国业务合伙人莫石(Michael Moser)表示,“但赔偿金仍是个大问题。”

“There has been a lot of effort to establish a framework for intellectual property law in China,” says Michael Moser, co-chairman of the China practice of O’Melveny & Myers. “But remedies are still a big issue.”

代表好莱坞电影公司的上海律师事务所的杨军表示,尽管赔偿金不高,但提起诉讼仍是值得的,因为它们让公众意识到,盗版DVD是违法的。

Yang Jun, at the Shanghai law firm that represented the studios, says the lawsuits are worthwhile despite the low damages because they make the public aware that fake DVDs are illegal.

杨军3年前参与的一起案件使得起诉DVD商店业主成为可能。在那之前,许多小商店在经营时不签订正式租约,希望借此可以使房屋所有人免于被起诉。她表示:“让它们越来越难以经营,同时提高公众意识,是一个循序渐进的过程。”

A case she was involved in three years ago established it was possible to sue the landlords of DVD shops. Before that many small shops operated without a formal lease in the hope that the property owner was immune from prosecution. “It is a gradual process of making it harder for them to operate and raising public awareness,” she says.

有迹象显示,中国相关部门正在打击DVD的销售,警察会对最显眼的商店进行突击检查。卡迪俱乐部在两年内被迫3次搬家,目前已更换了经营名称。外国影片的销售只在一间密室里进行。

There are some signs that the authorities are cracking down on DVD sales, with police raids on the most visible shops. Ka de Club has been forced to change location three times in two years and now operates under a different name. Foreign films are on sale only in a back room.

但盗版DVD的需求量巨大,这在一定程度上是由于中国审查部门禁止多数新影片在影院上映。诉讼案件似乎没有影响卡迪俱乐部在新址的生意。最近一个周五的下午,一大批DVD及时到货,供销费者在周末购买。

But there is huge demand for fake DVDs, in part because China’s censors prevent most new films appearing in the cinema. And lawsuits do not appear to have slowed business at Ka de Club’s new location. On a recent Friday afternoon a big consignment of DVDs arrived in time for weekend customers

外贸英语推荐