For a long time, China has been known for widespread piracy issues. Watching movies online used to be something quite extraordinary just a few years ago. However, with the growing awareness of copyright protection and improvements in relevant laws and regulations, legalizing online movies and TV shows has become an inevitable trend. Over the last few years, the crackdown on pirated resources has once again reshaped China's digital ecosystem. Let's revisit some of the major incidents that led to significant changes in how online films and TV shows were handled. Do you still recall them?
BTChina Shutdown
BTChina is a name familiar to most seasoned internet users. It was once one of the most popular sites for downloading BT resources in China. During its peak, BTChina was almost synonymous with internet browsing. The site offered a wide range of video resources, including variety shows, Korean dramas, Japanese anime, and international movies, none of which were licensed.
In December 2009, BTChina was shut down for lacking proper audiovisual program licenses. Relevant authorities stated that any website violating regulations, whether a BT download site or one with a license, faced consequences such as infringement, piracy, or illegal content dissemination. These violations were met with legal action, resulting in the revocation of licenses.
Besides BTChina, numerous other BT download platforms like Eden, Yo-Yo, and BT Home, along with a host of BT Tracker servers, were either shut down or voluntarily closed around the same time. This effectively left many seeds inactive. Undoubtedly, the shutdown of BTChina had a massive impact, prompting many users to recognize that copyright-protected content wasn't freely available.
VeryCD Rectification
Apart from BTChina, another giant in China's internet world was VeryCD. While BTChina was a hub for BT resources, VeryCD focused on eD2k resources. VeryCD introduced eMule to China, modified it into "EDonkey," and promoted it with extensive publicity. It also aggregated a vast amount of eD2k resources on its main site, introducing many Chinese users to the wonders of eD2k downloads. Unfortunately, many of these resources involved piracy, covering movies, games, software, and more. Due to its ease of accessing pirated content, VeryCD gained immense popularity among users.
In 2009, during BTChina's rectification period, VeryCD was shut down multiple times but reopened each time. However, in 2011, VeryCD underwent a complete transformation. It ceased offering pirated music and video downloads, transitioning into an online community and profiting through page view operations. VeryCD's transformation proved successful, maintaining a steady stream of visitors. Nevertheless, the platform that once served as a hub for pirated eD2k resources no longer exists.
Everyone’s Movie and TV Transformation
If you're a fan of American dramas, you've likely heard of "Everyone." Initially, it was a subtitle group made up of enthusiasts translating foreign films and TV shows. Over time, Everyone evolved into a site providing pirated downloads of U.S. and other international TV series. Its organized, translated, and released content earned it a strong following among American drama enthusiasts.
On World Intellectual Property Day in April 2013, Everyone announced a temporary closure. Gradually, it halted resource downloads. By late 2014, the site was seized by authorities and its servers confiscated, leading to its official shutdown. However, Everyone didn’t fully cease operations but instead started transforming itself. Today, it has become a discussion community for TV shows, bidding farewell to piracy.
Shadow Outage
Extreme Video was practically unknown to most anime fans but was a go-to site for domestic fans looking to download pirated anime via BT. As legitimate video platforms began offering genuine anime, crackdowns on pirated resources increased, and Shadows also faced downtime.
At the end of 2014, the Shadow site abruptly shut down, with staff stating it was temporary. After some time, the site reopened briefly before shutting down permanently. Since then, Shadows only retained its subtitle group, ceasing to provide BT resources for pirated anime searches and downloads. Other anime BT download sites also faced similar fates around this time, like Roaming BT. Anime enthusiasts have now grown accustomed to watching on regular video sites, making pirated BT downloads less common.
Net Disk Networks
Beyond download stations and networks, web disks became another hotspot for pirated content distribution. Many pirated resources are now shared via cloud storage, especially since offline download capabilities were added, accelerating the spread of pirated materials. In 2014, relevant departments launched a special campaign called "Save Yellow, Non-Net, and Net 2014," targeting web disk rectifications. For instance, 115 Web Disk disabled sharing features, and Baidu Cloud replaced illegal videos with educational films, somewhat curbing the spread of pirated content.
In 2015, China's internet saw the "Jianwang 2015"专项行动 led by the National Copyright Administration, with the Copyright Bureau issuing a notice regulating web disk copyright orders. Under copyright pressures, many internet companies voluntarily suspended their web disk services, such as Jinshan Fast Disk and 360 Cloud Disk. Despite these efforts, pirated content still exists on some platforms. However, with ongoing crackdowns, the disappearance of these resources is likely imminent.
A, B Station Videos and Downloads
Aside from download sites and web disks, many users prefer watching pirated videos online for convenience. Acfun and Bilibili, commonly referred to as A and B stations, attracted much attention with their video content.
Reports indicate that the movie and TV sections of A Station have been entirely cleared, meaning all movies, TV shows, and related content have been removed. B Station appears slightly better off, with foreign TV dramas being the hardest hit. At the time, the Japanese drama section was reduced to only four or five pages of videos. It's reported that a large number of videos were removed due to copyright issues. B Station staff even mentioned reviewing already-downloaded content, with only videos meeting copyright standards being relaunched.
Both A and B Stations were once hubs for pirated content. However, both now purchase substantial amounts of copyrighted material, moving toward legitimate operations. This heavy dismantling of pirated content on A and B Stations has further promoted the legalization of online videos.
As the internet develops, China will undoubtedly continue to excel in protecting online video copyrights. Currently, many legitimate websites offer copyrighted content. Regular websites' operations bring better translations and timely updates, enhancing the viewing experience. Moreover, copyright protection fosters creativity, making the legalization of online videos an irreversible trend. We hope China can produce and introduce more excellent film and TV works.
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