13m illegal publications seized in IPR campaign

BEIJING - Publication authorities across China seized more than 13 million illegal audio and video products and print publications in a high-profile campaign to protect intellectual property rights (IPR).

From October 2010 to June, law enforcement personnel also cleaned up 663 workshops, where pirated music and film disks, softwares, books and other print products were manufactured, according to the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP).

"Our campaign focused on print and copy businesses, online copyright infringement and piracy, supervision on the publication market and investigations into major cases," said Yu Cike, a senior official with the GAPP.

According to GAPP, 18 major video websites, including youku.com and video.sina.com.cn, have been ordered to report the IPR authorization status for all the films and TV series posted on their sites to supervision departments on a quarterly basis.

The high-profile crackdown was also joined by other central government departments including the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), National Copyright Administration and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

In late August, the MPS announced a fresh round of crackdown on counterfeiting businesses from September 1 to December 31 after the country's police broke up more than 4,500 criminal rings and arrested about 10,000 suspects in the previous action.