Black sheets, pirated videos, and unobstructed camera voyeurism: such a private theater is difficult to last
With just one set of projection equipment, a set of ambient lights, and a bed, consumers can enjoy watching movies freely.
Today, private theaters are thriving everywhere, with the advantage of offering a more private, more-chosen movie-going experience.
However, the reporter's investigation found that there are weeds that are infringing, disorderly, and threatening privacy in a spring pool full of vitality.
A messy private room
In a private cinema in Chongqing's Three Gorges Square, the bed sheets were blackened and pilled, the bedding had unidentified stains, hair and food scraps were stuck to the backs of the pillows, and the corners of the floor were covered with dust.
"The room is cleaned once every two days, and the bedding is changed twice a week." Mr. Yang, the operator, admitted that it is difficult for a private theater to "kill one guest and one disinfect".
"My theater has only 6 private rooms. Compared with theaters with more than 20 private rooms, the cleaning frequency is already high."
A reporter from Banyuetan visited a number of private cinemas and found that the cinema library is basically composed of pirated resources from the Internet. A large number of films have not obtained the State Film Administration’s public screening license, and some films are being shown in theaters, but private theaters are not showing at the same time. permissions.
The reporter tried some movies and found that there were more or less blurring and color cast problems, and advertisements flashed from time to time during the playback.
The new movie in the theater is more like a pirated version, the picture continues to shake, and the voices of the audience are clearly audible.
In addition, private theaters also have the risk of consumer privacy leakage.
The reporter's investigation found that the production and sale of illegal surveillance videos in private cinemas has formed a black industry chain all over the country.
Under the guise of providing an "all-night movie viewing" service that does not require ID verification, private theaters invite customers to watch movies in private rooms, but they do not know that there are pinhole cameras installed in the rooms, leaving a large number of real-time video recordings for the theater.
The boss sells the videos for profit, and the buyer can buy up to 40 privately shot videos for more than 200 yuan.
In addition, there is a so-called "customized service with increased price", that is, the seller can go to a designated theater in a designated city and install a camera at a designated angle.
In a private cinema in the Daping business district of Chongqing, a reporter from Banyuetan entered an unmanned private room, but the mobile phone network detection indicated that 11 devices had been connected to the Wi-Fi in the private room.
The theater owner hesitantly explained that he did not install surveillance equipment in the room, but also did not regularly use professional equipment to check whether someone had secretly installed a spy camera.
Daily supervision does not pay attention to details
What is the reason for the frequent chaos in private theaters?
- The cost of infringement is low.
In 2018, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television issued the "Regulations on the Management of On-Demand Cinemas and On-Demand Cinema Lines", which collectively referred to "private cinemas" as "on-demand cinemas", and stipulated that films shown in on-demand cinemas should obtain permission for film public screening and copyright according to law. person authorized.
However, the reporter visited a number of private cinemas and found that most of the film sources were obtained by opening VIP permissions on the film and television platform website, and none of them were authorized by the copyright owner.
"The original license is too expensive, and it is unbearable for a small business," said Ms. Yuan, an employee of a private cinema.
The reporter noticed that in recent years, it is not uncommon for private cinemas to be brought to court for allegedly infringing the right to disseminate information on the Internet, but the amount of compensation awarded by the court generally does not exceed 20,000 yuan.
In February this year, the Beijing Internet Court heard a case of infringing the right to disseminate information on the Internet. A private theater in Shanghai infringed on Youku's exclusive right to disseminate information on the Internet. The court ruled that only the private theater should compensate for economic losses of 1.5%. million.
"Compared to the cost of purchasing genuine licenses, it is cheaper to pay for this compensation." Ms. Yuan said frankly.
- The operating standards are ambiguous.
He Xiang, a lawyer at Sichuan Xuanheng Zhiping Law Firm, said that in order to operate a private theater, a movie screening business license must be obtained.
When a reporter from Banyuetan visited a private theater and asked about the business qualifications, the business license that the operator, Mr. Yang, showed to the reporter showed that the business scope was "organizing cultural and artistic exchange activities", not film screenings.
The problem doesn't stop there.
The reporter visited and found that a large number of private theaters have illegal acts of operating beyond the scope.
For example, many private theaters also provide food and beverage retail services in addition to film screenings.
The "Measures for the Administration of Food Circulation Licensing" stipulates that engaging in food sales activities should obtain a food business license in accordance with the law.
Among the 6 private cinemas randomly visited by the reporter, only one has applied for a food business license.
- There are blind spots in supervision.
"A few years ago, the Public Security Bureau, the Industry and Commerce Institute, and the Cultural Bureau came here once. They said it was a joint inspection, but they only checked whether there was a problem of pornography, gambling, drugs, and no qualifications." Mr. Yang said. After uploading a business license, many private theaters will not even take the initiative to apply for a business license.
He Xiang believes that lax supervision has directly led to the non-standard operation of private cinemas, there is no strict procedure for reviewing applications, daily supervision does not pay attention to details, and the troubling problems such as the rampant illegal filming are also the beginning.
Urgent need for targeted rectification
In response to some issues that cannot be ignored in the current operation of private cinemas, many experts and scholars have given their opinions.
The consensus of everyone is that on the one hand, efforts should be made to rectify the situation, and on the other hand, effective management measures should be introduced according to the characteristics of the new business format, so as not to be "killed with one stick" and leave room for sustainable and healthy development.
"Problems such as frequent piracy and irregular operation in the private cinema industry are not uncommon in cultural and entertainment venues such as dance halls and karaoke rooms. The business scope and business model of cultural and entertainment venues should be fully regulated and guided." He Xiang said .
Zhang Huibin, a professor at the School of Civil and Commercial Law of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, suggested that in response to copyright issues, it is necessary to further strengthen the mechanism for investigating and punishing copyright infringement, strengthen cooperation in copyright law enforcement, improve the level of informatization of law enforcement supervision, and increase punishment for infringement.
"This requires continuous copyright publicity and training, strengthening the copyright literacy of private cinema operators, and raising the copyright awareness of the whole society." Zhang Huibin said.
In response to such bad problems as the rampant secret photography and illegal production, He Xiang believes that relevant departments need to intensify the crackdown, trace the root cause, seriously pursue accountability, and use the thunder method of "killing one to warn a hundred" to play a warning role, and effectively purify the atmosphere of the industry, so that later practitioners dare not dare Move evil thoughts again.
"Private theaters meet consumers' differentiated movie viewing needs, and there should be room for development." Despite the current chaos in private theaters, Zhang Huibin still has expectations for the new format of the film industry.
He and many interviewed experts said that it is necessary to guide practitioners to strengthen their awareness of self-discipline and form a consciousness of continuously improving service quality, so that the industry can restore health and vitality and move forward in an orderly manner in accordance with the law.
Source: "Ban Yue Tan" 2022 Issue 15
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