New policy to fight piracy ignites controversy. Jiang Xueqing in Beijing looks at the looming copyright charge.

As a migrant worker on a tight budget, Zhang Jie spends a lot of spare time in Internet cafes watching movies.

The last thing he needs is for the cost to go up.

"People like me can afford 4 yuan (US$0.60) an hour at most," said the 26-year-old salesman, as he sat watching the 1987 comedy A Chinese Ghost Story at 520 Casual Internet Cafe in Beijing.

"If the cafe starts charging 5 yuan or more, people will stop coming," he warned.

Zhang's fear about a price hike follows news that the China Film Copyright Association (CFCA) will soon hit wang ba (the Chinese term for Internet cafes) and long-distance bus companies with a set monthly fee for screening Chinese movies.

The levy, which will come into force on Jan 1, is being touted as a weapon against piracy.

Yet, cafe owners have slammed the move, claiming it is an unfair tax aimed at the wrong people.

Sun Jingbin, manager of 520 Casual and its 120 or so desktop computers, estimated at least 20 percent of its customers watch movies on the cafe's server.

However, since 2008, 520 Casual has paid 2,400 yuan a year to 365pub.com, the Shanghai-based company that installed the server, for downloads and maintenance. Under the contract, Sun said 365pub.com is responsible for obtaining copyright permission and handling legal issues.

It is a deal many wang ba nationwide have entered into, prompting many owners to ask why they are being forced to pay two copyright charges.

"We were told by (365pub.com) they have copyright licenses for these movies," said Sun. "If there's a problem, the association should ask the movie providers for a payment or compensation, rather than coming to us."

But the new regulations do not stipulate who should pay the royalties, Internet cafes or movie service providers, "so we'll just take whichever is more convenient", said Li Guomin, secretary-general of the CFCA.

"It's definitely easier to start with Internet cafes," he added.

Paying attention

Since being set up in April, the CFCA has found the vast majority of China's 138,000 registered wang ba have contracts with 20 or so movie providers.

Although the companies claim to have copyright permission for Chinese films, a CFCA statement said most do not, accusing others of offering pirated versions. The 2,000 to 4,000 yuan a year they charge for their services is also unlikely to cover the cost of the licenses.

Legal experts warn that, even with a contract that puts the onus on movie providers to get clearance, Internet cafes are not immune to prosecution.

If a wang ba does not pay up and is found to be screening copyrighted movies without permission, the CFCA can sue them on behalf of its members. Individual copyright holders can also complain to local and central authorities.

Administrative penalties include warnings, fines and confiscation of equipment used in copyright violations.

"Internet cafe owners should pay due attention while obtaining copyright licensing from an agent company (such as movie providers)," said Wang Qian, a professor with the intellectual property school at East China University of Political Science and Law.

"They should ask for the original licensing contracts with the copyright owner and check the authenticity, rather than taking an agent's word for it," he said. "Otherwise, the Internet cafe will be held liable."

Business owners say, however, that they have neither the knowledge nor resources to double check the hundreds of movies downloaded onto their servers.

It is just not feasible, said Sun Qi, chairman of the Beijing Internet Cafe Association, who equated the suggestion to "asking every consumer who bought (tainted) Sanlu milk powder to check its safety before drinking".

"According to the business license, a wang ba can only provide Internet access services," he said. "So, checking film copyright information is beyond its duties and abilities."

At an August seminar hosted by the Supreme People's Court, Sun Qi urged authorities to accept the promise by movie providers in contracts as evidence of Internet cafes' due attention.

He also called for a public online platform where cafe managers can find basic copyright information on Chinese movies.