Film side: Resolutely resist!, Two popular movies have been exposed by netizens for "stealing box office" box office in a row | Warm | Movie
Recently, some netizens have reported on social media platforms that the popular movies "Fengshen" and "Warm" are suspected to have been "stolen from the box office" by cinemas, which has sparked heated discussions. On August 2nd, # Feng Shenfa issued a statement to boycott box office theft and concealment # # The movie enthusiastically boycotted all box office theft and concealment # related topics have successively made it to the hot search.
Some netizens claimed that the movie they bought was "Passionate", but when they scanned the QR code on a certain movie platform, it was displayed as the ticket source information for "Fengshen". However, another netizen claimed that a similar situation also occurred to themselves, only purchasing movie tickets for "Fengshen" but displaying information about "Passionate".
On the evening of August 1st, the director of the movie "Fengshen First Part", Ulsan, released a statement on Weibo titled "Declaration on Resisting Box Office Leakage and Concealing". On August 2nd, the official Weibo account of the movie "Fengshen First Part" forwarded the statement, which reads as follows:
The movie "The First Part of Fengshen" is currently being released nationwide. In order to maintain a good order in the film market, protect the legitimate rights and interests of all production parties, respect the labor achievements of copyright holders, creators, and relevant rights holders, we will work together with all parties to resist the act of individual cinemas leaking and concealing box office revenue. This film adopts a segmented distribution of keys. If it is found that the cinema has engaged in activities such as leaking or concealing box office information, the distributor will choose to terminate the cooperation with the cinema.
On that day, the official Weibo account of the movie "Warmth" also released a statement on resisting box office fraud: the movie "Warmth" is currently in its prime, and we have received a lot of support and encouragement from the audience. Thank you very much. In order to maintain a good market order, ensure the legitimate rights and interests of all production parties, respect the labor achievements of copyright holders, creators, and relevant rights holders, we will work together with all parties to resist the behavior of individual cinemas concealing box office. If such behavior is found in the cinema, we will terminate cooperation with the cinema.
Many netizens have expressed their support for rights protection, boycott box office fraud, and protect Chinese films together. The act of box office fraud is too heinous
Regarding this, Lawyer Ma Lihong, Senior Partner of Beijing Dehe Heng Law Firm and Director of the Film and Television Entertainment Business Center, told the Legal Research Institute that if the act of "stealing box office" is true, it will violate relevant laws and regulations in China. According to Article 34 of the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Promotion of the Film Industry", "Film distribution enterprises, cinemas, etc. shall truthfully calculate the sales revenue of films, provide true and accurate statistical data, and shall not use improper means such as manufacturing false transactions, falsely reporting and concealing sales revenue to deceive and mislead audiences, and disrupt the order of the film market."
According to the first paragraph of Article 51, "If film distribution enterprises, cinemas, etc. engage in activities such as manufacturing false transactions, falsely reporting and concealing sales revenue, and disrupt the order of the film market, the film regulatory department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order them to make corrections, confiscate their illegal gains, and impose a fine of not less than 50000 yuan but not more than 500000 yuan; if their illegal gains exceed 500000 yuan, they shall be fined not less than twice but not more than five times their illegal gains. If the circumstances are serious, they shall be ordered to suspend business for rectification; if the circumstances are particularly serious, their license shall be revoked by the original issuing authority."
In response to the above case, if a consumer purchases movie A but buys movie B tickets, it is considered that the cinema has created false transactions, deceived the audience, created false box office data, and misled the audience into choosing the movie. Consumers have the right to refuse to receive the replaced movie tickets and demand that the cinema sell them according to the formal process.
In fact, in recent years, multiple movies have been exposed to have experienced box office theft incidents.
Previously, "Walking on the Moon Alone" starring Shen Teng and Ma Li had issued a ban on cinemas from leaking and concealing information, and publicly announced that a total of seven cinemas across the country were involved in such behavior. In order to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of the film producers, it was decided to suspend the provision of the second stage and subsequent keys for "Walking on the Moon Alone" to these seven cinemas. Any violations will be reported to the film regulatory authorities for further processing, and all distribution and screening cooperation with them will be suspended, while retaining the right to pursue legal compensation.
Lawyer Ma Lihong's analysis of such phenomena suggests that the reasons behind box office theft are nothing more than related to the cinema's revenue sharing model. From a practical perspective, the act of stealing box office is mostly done by cinemas, and the form is also very covert, such as using handwritten tickets, prepaid card mini programs to purchase tickets at a discounted price, booking without issuing tickets, maliciously refunding tickets, dual systems, structured tickets, and other means to obtain hidden benefits.
Ma Lihong said that some cinemas are doing this mainly to achieve the goal of paying less taxes and gaining more revenue sharing benefits. These behaviors are prohibited by law, and the relevant competent authorities may impose administrative penalties on the responsible party based on verified facts.
The Research Institute of Rule of Law Network has noticed that currently, the normative documents issued by the state regarding box office management mainly include the Notice on Strengthening the Management of the Film Market and Standardizing the Use of the Film Ticketing System, the Technical Requirements and Measurement Methods for the Cinema Ticketing Management System, and the Implementation Rules for the Management of the Cinema Ticketing System. According to the requirements of these documents, commercial film screening units established in accordance with the law in fixed locations within China shall comply with the above regulations.
For film projection units that seriously violate relevant national laws and regulations, the issuing authority of the Film Projection Business License shall make a decision to suspend or revoke the license, which includes the use of unregistered ticketing software products, or the use of two or more ticketing equipment or software, tampering with ticketing data, reporting ticketing data that is seriously fraudulent, resulting in the act of evading or concealing box office revenue and tax evasion.
In addition, Lawyer Ma Lihong stated that with the increasingly perfect laws and regulations, the gradual strengthening of industry and platform management, and the continuous upgrading of technological means, stealing box office tickets has actually become increasingly difficult.
Lawyer Ma pointed out that in fact, the theft of box office by the cinema often leads to significant damage to the interests of the film industry. Of course, in rare cases, it cannot be ruled out that there may be collusion between the film and cinema parties to steal box office revenue. The act of stealing box office is not simply a breach of contract, but has already violated legal provisions. In addition to the administrative liability stipulated in the Film Industry Promotion Law, there are also civil liability for infringing on consumer interests and administrative and criminal liability for tax evasion.
"The total box office of Chinese films for the whole year has reached the top position in the world, which is the pride of Chinese filmmakers and audiences, as well as the result of the unremitting efforts of all participants in the industry. It is even more necessary to cherish existing achievements and focus on the future development of Chinese films. Undoubtedly, only by complying with laws and regulations can we achieve stability and prosperity, and usher in a more brilliant tomorrow for Chinese films," said Ma Lihong.
