European Commission on Piracy in China 2025

The European Commission’s 2025 Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List report acknowledged the anti-piracy enforcement efforts in China but also emphasized the challenges in anti-piracy in China.

Positive Developments

• Civil Liability: A June 2024 Guangzhou court ruling found Baidu Pan indirectly liable for copyright infringement. The court held the cloud storage service negligent for failing to ensure effective takedown and 'stay down' of infringing TV program copies.

• Criminal Prosecutions: Positive developments include the conviction of website B9Good and criminal prosecutions against subscription-based piracy sites Shenlan and Coco.

• National Campaigns: The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) continued its annual Jianwang campaign, which resulted in the removal of 2.44 million infringing links, the shutdown of 2,390 infringing websites/ apps, and the handling of 1,513 online infringement cases in 2023.

• Market Regulation: The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) reported cleaning up 300,000 pieces of illegal online information and addressing unregulated live streaming. SAMR has signed cooperation agreements with 81 online platforms.

  
  

Noteworthy Online Services Providers

• Dytt8[.]net:  Identified as a target of the Jianwang campaign and reported by the audiovisual industry, this linking site redirects users to third-party storage providers, commands substantial traffic, and constitutes part of a network of affiliated domains. It has been blocked in both Australia and Malaysia.

• Evpad: Continuously reported by audiovisual stakeholders. This China-based Android app uses P2P technology to provide access to thousands of movies, TV titles, and live international channels. Distributed globally via online/ physical resellers in over 70 locations. Continuously reported by audiovisual industry stakeholders, this China-based Android app leverages P2P technology to offer users access to thousands of movies, TV programs, and live international channels. The app is distributed globally through online and physical resellers across more than 70 locations.

Trends: Branded Media Devices

• Zhuhai Gotech Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.: Gotech, a Chinese company, was reported by rightholders in the sports events industry, for manufacturing media devices sold across the globe, which preloaded with pirate firmware: control word sharing software and illicit IPTV services.

Conclusion

While concrete enforcement steps within China have been acknowledged, the persistence of typical and new-type online piracy services underscore that sustained efforts and monitoring are essential.

Authors

James Godefroy, Principal and Yuqing Zhang, IP Specialist Guangzhou