posted 05-23-2005 03:44 PM                       

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Illegal 'Star Wars' copies hit the streets in Beijing
Counterfeiters were selling illegal DVD copies of the latest "Star Wars" movie on Beijing's streets Sunday, just three days after it opened in Chinese cinemas.

The copies of "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith," priced at 20 yuan ($2.40), were being offered by vendors out of shoulder bags on Beijing's main avenue.

The pirated copies were slightly blurry but appeared not to have been filmed in a cinema, as are many of China's imported fakes.

But viewers using the English subtitles were likely to be confused since they were from the 2003 action movie "Detention" starring Dolph Lundgren and didn't match the on-screen action. The Chinese subtitles, however, were accurate.

The sales were taking place despite repeated Chinese promises to stamp out a thriving industry in copied goods that foreign companies say costs them billions of dollars a year in lost potential sales.

"Revenge of the Sith" opened Thursday on Chinese screens in a rare simultaneous opening with cinemas abroad.

Distributors hope that such worldwide premiers will defeat pirates by giving audiences in China and other countries a chance to see films before illegal copies can be made.

Studios complain that China has created a market for pirated movies by blocking or delaying releases of many films in an effort to protect state-owned studios.

Pirated movies sold in China are made from videotapes shot in cinemas abroad, or from preview copies given out to film distributors and others in the industry.

China says it is trying to prevent piracy, with about 9,000 cases brought to court in 2004.

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posted 05-23-2005 06:06 PM                    

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The copies of "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith," priced at 20 yuan ($2.40), were being offered by vendors out of shoulder bags on Beijing's main avenue.

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