Explaining audiovisual media piracy in China. Media control, enforcement and globalisation

This thesis analyses the causes of media piracy (illegal copying and selling of films and television programmes) in China. Piracy in China is partly encouraged by two factors: the limited space for media freedom, as a result of which the legitimate offer does not meet the demand, and the structural problems of the Chinese state public service, as a result of which the country cannot unite the forces to deal with piracy in a severe way. The US have tried to persuade China to further open their media market by means of the WTO, but so far without success. According to Creemers piracy is not ‘a bad thing’: after all, it gives the Chinese access to information they would otherwise be denied.