 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Media
Information > Media DVD Coverage 
Archive
|
| Updated May 29, 2006 DVD
NEWS DIGEST
1 -
The Chronicles Of Narnia (Full Screen) Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Up to 60 per cent of DVD and VCD movies sold in Thailand are pirated, mainly due to illegal copies flooding in from neighbouring countries, according to Tienchai Pinvises, executive director of the Motion Picture Association (Thailand). According to the association's report, about 1,500 movie titles were illegally reproduced and sold in Thailand last year, compared to 1,100 in 2004. Since Thailand has a compact disc (CD) copyright law for controlling CD manufacturing, CD-producers are now also relying more on computers, which apart from greater convenience reduce the risk of getting caught, he said. The Thai government reported 1,656 cases of intellectual-property infringement with the seizing of 489,762 items in the first two months of this year. Of these, 1,095 cases broke copyright law and 561 broke trademark law.
The music industry is targeting pirates in 12 U.S. cities who copy CDs and DVDs for sale at street corners, flea markets, family-run shops and even mainstream record stores. Executives identified the cities as Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Chicago; Dallas; Houston; Los Angeles; Miami; New York; Philadelphia; Providence, R.I.; San Diego and San Francisco. These were selected based on market surveys, earlier raids and industry reviews of sales data suggesting lost sales during the past five years. Urban and Latin music is overwhelmingly popular among pirates who copy discs, representing about 95 percent of all counterfeit CDs and DVDs seized in raids, according to one official.
Vending machines at fast food restaurants now provide DVD rentals. The conventional rental business has suffered from the sale of cheap DVDs, rent-by-mail services, and expanding video-on- demand from cable companies. About the size of a soft drink machine, the vending machines hold 500 DVDs and include a touch screen so customers can pick a movie, and a credit-card reader for paying the $1-a-night fee. They don't take cash. Customers return the movies at the machine. One fast food chain came up with the idea in 2003 as it looked for ways to draw more people into its restaurants. It began experimenting with the machines in 2004 and now has 750 machines in restaurants in five cities. A rental chain also is experimenting with DVD rental machines. Its Chief Financial Officer says that its machines will hold at least 1,000 discs, and some hold as many as 5,000, and can be used 24 hours a day.
Last year, video sales made up 30% of one rental chain’s total sales mix, and used DVD sales were one bright spot. Sales of used product grew 20% from 2004, and the chain expects that growth to continue this year as the company expands into the underdeveloped DVD business as well as increases promotions and in-store merchandising. The company also has placed its third-generation digital-download kiosks in 185 mall locations and plans to have all stores outfitted with the download stations in 2006. The chain expects music to be the primary sales driver for the kickoff.
Concert festival season is set to kick into full swing, and music DVD suppliers are making the most of their rock-n-roll fan bases. Two-disc sets include not only music, but interviews with featured artists and mini documentaries, as well as a photo galleries and highlights from last year’s concerts.
More and more small and medium-size Japanese companies have started selling classic movie DVDs for 500 yen apiece. The "one-coin DVDs" are a hit with film buffs. Up to 140 cut-price movies are now available including such masterpieces as "Casablanca," "It's a Wonderful Life," "Gone with the Wind" and "Charade," with some selling for as little as 380 yen. What makes these rock-bottom prices possible is a 2004 revision to the Copyright Law that aimed to boost copyright protection, but also expanded the number of works in the copyright-free public domain. "We don't need to pay costly copyright fees (to film studios) anymore," said Kenjiro Harasawa, a senior official at a firm that sells some 30,000 older DVDs titles per month. While profit margins are slim, having more DVDs available for purchase helps stimulate demand. The
one-coin DVDs are available at a range of shops that includes bookstores,
convenience stores, do-it-yourself stores and online shops.
____________________________________________________ |