In a new effort to stop the movie piracy, the MPA has filed a lawsuit against Shenzhen Xunlei Networking Technology Co Ltd (Xunlei), a popular Chinese P2P file sharing network operator.

According to the civil complaint filed in the Shanghai Pudong District Court, MPAA is requesting total damages and legal costs in excess of RMB 7 million (US$975,000). In addition, the MPA seeks a public acknowledgement of the infringements and Xunlei’s pledge to refrain from future infringements.

The association has decided to start the legal battle after sending Xunlei 78 separate notices of infringement over a five week period.

“These actions demonstrate that copyright holders can and will vigorously defend their property by any legal means, including redress before the courts where necessary,” said Frank Rittman, Vice President, Deputy Regional Director and Regional Legal Counsel, Asia-Pacific for the Motion Picture Association. “P2P piracy is a huge problem in China, which if left unattended, will threaten the continued development of legitimate online services supported by copyright owners.”

Since 2006 in China alone, the MPA has successfully concluded 42 complaints involving 135 counts of infringement resulting in damages and cost awards in excess of RMB 2 million. A comprehensive study aimed at producing a more accurate picture of the impact that piracy has on the film industry concluded that the MPA studios lost US$6.1 billion to worldwide piracy in 2005.

About $2.4 billion was lost to bootlegging, $1.4 billion to illegal copying and $2.3 billion to Internet piracy. Of the US$6.1 billion in lost revenue to the studios, approximate US$1.2 billion came from piracy across the Asia-Pacific region, while piracy in
the U.S. accounted for US$1.3 billion.