 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Media
Information > Media DVD Coverage 
Archive
|
| Updated October 17, 2007 DVD
NEWS DIGEST
1 -
Blades Of Glory DreamWorks Home Entertainment
Dutch police have raided an illegal DVD manufacturing plant capable of making 900 copies of movies an hour. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents the recording industry, said that Dutch police were dismantling the disc factory in Velddriel, southeast of Amsterdam. Officers also found discs that formed part of an order for thousands of pirate CDs featuring a compilation of chart music. Piracy remains rife around the world. China has the highest piracy rates ahead of Mexico, Spain and Brazil, according to recent figures from the IFPI.
A Beijing court ordered two pirated DVD retailers to pay $27,795 to six major Hollywood studios, but the offenders escaped criminal charges that could carry prison terms. "The rulings ... demonstrate that Chinese courts continue to be supportive of copyright holders' efforts to vigorously defend their property," Motion Picture Association Asia-Pacific regional counsel Frank Rittman said. The Beijing court's fine was levied after the MPA provided capital law enforcement with evidence of the sale of pirated movies at Beijing Yongsheng Century 17 times over the past two years. Rittman said, adding that one of the reasons that the MPA believes that 93% of the discs sold in China are sold in violation of copyright is the pent-up demand caused partly by a lack of free market access due to a strictly enforced 20-title quota on imported films.
The DVD market in India is witnessing major change. The prices of both hardware and software has become highly competitive and a host of online rental players have emerged. Today, six cities including Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata account for 70 per cent of the DVD player penetration in the market. According to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci ), there is a huge increase in plasma TVs and home theatre surround sound systems, which has boosted the demand for home video products like DVDs and VCDs. The home video market in India — largely the rental market — has grown by about 15-18 per cent per year over the last two years. India has approximately 15 million DVD players and this figure is expected to touch 70 million by 2010, which translates into a vastly untapped video rental market.
Video and DVD sales fell 4.1% to Y148,358 million ($1.3 billion) in the first half of 2007, according to a survey by the Japan Video Software Assn.. DVDs completed their take-over of the market with a 99.7% share, up from 97.5% in the previous period. Of the almost $1.3 billion in DVD sales, sell-through DVDs accounted for 65.5%, rental stores sales, 33.9% and commercial and other sales, 0.5%. Rental store sales were a bright spot, rising 5.3% to $439.8 million, setting a first-half record. Meanwhile, sell video sales fell 5.1 % to $850 million.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has launched a free DVD aimed at helping parents raise their young children. The PM says the DVD will be distributed free of charge to the parents of every newborn child from October. He says $2.7 million will be spent on distributing the DVD, which aims to teach the essentials of raising children. He says the DVD will focus on "the absolutely irreplaceable values of providing a secure and loving environment for every child that is born into this world". end
____________________________________________________ |