Rights holders in alliance to strike online piracy

Letv Sports, Tecent and Sina have proposed an alliance in Beijing in protecting online sports-related intellectual property, aiming to jointly strike the piracy of rights of sports events.

These parties urge relevant rights holders to follow close to the line of “use with permission”. And members of the alliance have agreed to work out dissolutions in time even if disputes occur.

Either Letv Sports or Tecent Sports has acquired rights of various sports events with extraordinary expenses. However, they, alongside other rights holders, are still facing difficulties in tackling broadcast piracy which received boosts from new digital technology.   

Letv Sports’ vice president Yu Hang, who is managing rights乐视sector, commented that “China’s sports industry is growing drastically with capital flowing into the sector”, but sports-related intellectual property still needs more protection from legislation and juridical practices.

Letv Sports hopes to play a part in the course of protecting right holders of sports events from piracy by joining in the alliance, Yu continued.