The Chinese Communist Party police raided the “Renren Film and TV Subtitling Group” on suspicion of copyright infringement of Film and Television works, and 14 people were arrested. (Image source: video screenshot)
On February 3, Shanghai police raided Renren, a pirate video site with more than 8 million fans in China, on suspicion of infringing on the copyrights of movie and television works, and immediately broke the news to netizens. Many people angrily criticized the authorities, “I want to watch the genuine version, but you should give me a chance!”
Shanghai police confirmed the news on Feb. 3 and said it was a “mega cross-province case of copyright infringement of film and TV works jointly supervised by the National Copyright Administration, the National Office of ‘Fight against Pornography and Illegality’, the Ministry of Public Security and the Supreme Prosecutor”. The Shanghai police arrested 14 suspects led by Liang, investigated 3 companies involved in the case, seized 20 cell phones, 12 computer hosts and servers, and the amount involved was more than 16 million yuan (RMB, same below).
Renren, also known as Renren Subtitle Group, has over 8 million registered users and publishes more than 20,000 films and videos.
The background of the website is that the Chinese Communist Party has set very complicated approval rules for the purchase of foreign films and TV programs, and overseas films and TV programs are not only slow to enter China, but are often censored and altered, thus the emergence of such cultural “movers”. For Chinese netizens, subtitling teams are invaluable because they bring overseas films and TV shows into China that have not been officially imported, creating a bridge around the authorities’ tight vetting system.
For example, in 2016, one of the most popular movies on RenRen was “Ten Years,” the best film of the Hong Kong Golden Film Awards, which was banned by the Chinese Communist Party.
The CCP has continued to suppress such websites for years in the name of protecting property rights. As early as 2014, it forcibly shut down Renren Film & TV and another similar video site, Shooter.com.
After the Shanghai police released the above news, Chinese netizens broke down and angrily blasted.
“I do want to watch the genuine version, but you should give me a chance instead!”
“Then give us a genuine and uncensored access, okay?”
“There’s nothing wrong with supporting the original, but you have to have the original for people to support ah (oh, I’m talking about the uncensored version as adults who have formed three views can watch, not censored into something that is only suitable for 12-year-olds to watch and even the plot is not coherent)”
“Fire stealers, see the fact that theft, but also please do not forget the fact that we do not have fire!”
“Watching drama source channel all from everyone, after happy no more, magic contemporary closed country, piracy is a front, nothing more than trying to emasculate foreign Culture.”
“Genuine is not introduced we only deserve to see what you want us to see? Without the most basic freedom to speak of!”
“So many corrupt officials do not investigate the evil bandits are not caught, day after day net focus on the people’s little fun not put”
“Netflix open ah, YouTube open ah, a few large domestic film sites just get a broken drama exclusive, forcing you to buy membership from house to house shameless!”
“The confinement of the cultural field for so many years is outrageous!”
There are also many people who cry out: “Renren has never received a penny of membership fees, the subtitling team is free to serve the people, tribute to the heroes” “people are not commercial use” “for the first Time, I think 16 million is a small amount. The first time I felt that 16 million was a small amount, I felt unjust for everyone”.
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