China Finds Something Else To Regulate, Brings In Its First Law For The Film Industry
from the excellent-Chinese-culture-and-socialist-core-values dept
Techdirt has been covering China’s relentless clampdown on every aspect of the online world for some time, culminating in the new “cybersecurity” law that’s just been passed. But if you think the Chinese authorities are now done, you’d be wrong. They are branching out into an entirely new field — cinema — with a law that the official Xinhua News Agency calls “the first of its kind in China“:
The top legislature on Monday adopted a film industry law, promising harsh punishment for firms that fabricate box office earnings, data or information.
That makes it sound like it is mostly about regulating the commercial activities of China’s cinema industry. And it’s true that there are some measures designed to prevent fraud, apparently something of a problem in the country:
Film distributors and theaters will have all their illegal earnings confiscated and be fined up to 500,000 yuan (about 73,800 U.S. dollars) if they falsify ticket sales data, according to the law adopted at the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee bimonthly session after a third reading.
If their illegal earnings exceed 500,000 yuan, the fine will be up to five times their illegitimate earnings.
They may also be hit with an operating suspension or have their business certificates revoked in serious cases, according to the new law.
But the meat of the legislation is probably to be found in the following aspects:
The law specified that actors, directors and other staff should be “excellent in both moral integrity and film art,” maintain self-disciplined and build a positive public image.
…
The [government] media watchdog is also establishing a “professional ethics committee,” aiming to guide organizations and people in the radio, film and media circles to practice “core socialist values.”
And it’s not just the actors who must be on their best behavior under the new law:
China will support the making of films championing excellent Chinese culture and socialist core values.
Chinese groups can cooperate with overseas counterparts in film shooting, excluding overseas organizations and individuals that engage in “activities damaging China’s national dignity, honor and interests, or harming social stability or hurting national feelings,” the law said.
Since China is now the world’s second-largest film market according to Xinhua, there will probably be plenty of Western companies that will be interested in co-productions. But the new rules mean that the Chinese government’s interest in a film’s storyline is now quite explicit, and that anything that “hurts national feelings” is a definite no-no. That probably means more discreet compromises of the kind recently seen in the film Doctor Strange, where a Tibetan Ancient One mysteriously turned into a Celtic Ancient One.
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Filed Under: china, film industry, regulations
Comments on “China Finds Something Else To Regulate, Brings In Its First Law For The Film Industry”
“The top legislature on Monday adopted a film industry law, promising harsh punishment for firms that fabricate box office earnings, data or information.”
“The law specified that actors, directors and other staff should be “excellent in both moral integrity and film art,” maintain self-disciplined and build a positive public image.”
If Hollywood was in China right about now, they’d be able to build another Great Wall out of the bricks that would be shat.
This is the problem with socialism and communism...
“China will support the making of films championing excellent Chinese culture and socialist core values”
This is the problem with socialism and communism, it doesn’t tolerate dissent. It is also backed by men with guns. But the Democratic party is running as far left as fast as they can, so it is coming to America soon enough.
Re: This is the problem with socialism and communism...
Just stop. There have been countless right wing despots. Don’t you remember Sadam, Noriega and Marcos? And those are just a few the US supported. You can hate communism and socialism but don’t think capitalism and conservatism is only for the pure of heart and mind.
Re: Re: This is the problem with socialism and communism...
Agreed to most of what you said. Evil is not partisan. I’m not sure I agree with the conservative part, unless you mean conservatism as a party. Actual conservatism in government, by definition, might help keep governments from becoming powerful enough to turn into one of these regimes IMO. But your point is made.
Re: Re: This is the problem with socialism and communism...
Anyone can bake up any version of a madman from any ideology, you are the one that should just stop.
America is currently a Socialist State. Socialism is not diametrically opposed to capitalism as it only deals with the regulation of business, not specifically who owns it. This is currently America and Switzerland at this time.
Socialism is gateway Communism. Every negative of Capitalism is amplified under Socialism because it causes regulatory capture, foments monolithic business and stifles innovation through things like IP laws. Socialism is essentially a system designed to fail by attempting to prevent a failure. Ownership of a business is in a flux state and can largely become pseudo. Corruption loves Socialism because it breeds best here, corruption is well tolerated throughout the environment here because a lot of people benefit in some form from the corruption. This is America right now!
Communism likes Socialism because Socialism is ignorant of itself and will commit suicide with the right poking and prodding. Communism carries the full boot of the law on the back of your neck when dealing with customers. Customers will only have recourse when and if allowed by the state. Communism is not a big friend of corruption because the Tyranny at the top generally hates dissension or greed in the ranks. It only agrees with tyranny, people all along it ranks dehumanizing citizens and treating them like chattel. The entire environment espouses devotion to the state and tyrannical devotion is typically rewarded.
Capitalism is best because business is bereft of the force of law when dealing with customers. Of course there are concerns of monopoly in this model leaving the law an unnecessary force when a business becomes the only available resource to the customers. Corruption is highly desirable at the top, but is not well tolerated throughout the environment as a whole. In unregulated capitalism most businesses run like Cartels, the people at the top have their managers and the workers are watched over by them. Capitalism often foments Socialism because it ‘appears’ to provide for a cure. Instead, Free Market principles should prevail. Unions should be free to assemble without threat of law. And strong anti-monopoly/trust laws are best to have in force, which often work like Socialism regulatory capture enabling businesses to buy political favor, thereby crippling it.
If you are a customer would you rather have the government on your side or against you? In capitalism Government is more likely to be on your side from a citizens perspective or just unhelpful, in Socialism/Regulatory, or a Communistic state government will typically be either against you or you are outright dictating your recourse if any.
Re: Re: Re: This is the problem with socialism and communism...
From what university did you get your political science degree?
Re: Re: Re:2 This is the problem with socialism and communism...
The university of reading history.
The more you are instructed by the box the less reality outside of it you are able to understand.
Re: Re: Re:3 This is the problem with socialism and communism...
“…instructed by the box…”
WTF are you talking about? This is gibberish. What does this even mean?
Re: Re: Re:4 This is the problem with socialism and communism...
It’s a reference to the concept of “thinking outside the box”, which is well-documented elsewhere.
With that as the basis, I parse this statement as meaning something like “The more of your tools for thinking about the world you get from inside the metaphorical box, the less capacity you have to understand ideas (including reality) from outside that box.”
Re: Re: Re: This is the problem with socialism and communism...
“America is currently a Socialist State” — Bullshit
“Socialism is ignorant of itself” — More bullshit
“Corruption loves Socialism because it breeds best here” — Dear God…
Re: This is the problem with socialism and communism...
“This is the problem with socialism and communism”
Is that the only problem? Is it a problem only within those two political systems?
Backed by guns! Oh noes !!!
“the Democratic party is running as far left as fast as they can
Many people today refuse to see the entire political spectrum – for them the center is “far left”.
You can remove their blinders, but you can’t make them look.
Re: Re: This is the problem with socialism and communism...
The Democratic party is run by neocon autocrats throwing meat to the Progressive base.
Re: This is the problem with socialism and communism...
I do believe you accidentally misspelled ‘dictatorships’ and ‘authoritarians’.
Socialism does not need an authoritarian government to work, as seen in Europe.
Re: This is the problem with socialism and communism...
China is socialist in name only and socialist values are whatever the government thinks it means however the government is on a .major anti-corruption drive and inflating box office reciepts leads to practices where cast and crew are cheated of wages You cant pay out what you haven got but if you make everyone think you have a blockbuster they want their contracted share.
What is this world coming to? We now have a country that literally wrote into their law “hurting national feelings”. It makes me picture a little two year old having a fit because someone called them a mean name.
Is this really what world governments have turned into? Bunch of two year old babies throwing fits because they can’t have things their way?
Re: Re:
Maybe next they’ll be passing out coloring books and play dough to calm the masses.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/11/09/colleges-try-to-comfort-students-upset-by-trump-victory/
Re: Re:
World Governments have always been this way. This is the natural flow of every government because the citizens are this way.
People have no problem with treating everyone else like trash but whining when they are treated like trash. So when you get into power, there is usually the attempt to secure oneself from incoming disparagement while replacing outgoing disparagement with demands of loyalty or at least obedience by force of law!
Every Nation gets the Government it deserves. If the Citizens will not fight the corruption in their governments then they cannot claim innocence.
Re: Re:
this is how we elected trump. alternatively, the more they pass these “special Chinese snowflake” laws, the more people are going to mock them for it.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Agenda.
Re: Re:
Whoops, the Tiger has now been poached… all that is left is the Hidden Agenda. It’s hard to catch despite being right there in plain sight… the hunters stalk their prey as onlookers are baffled!