New film's DVD release in China aims to stop piracy

In the ongoing battle to combat international movie piracy, Warner Bros. Entertainment released a DVD of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in China last Wednesday, when the teen flick opened in North America. The pared-down DVD has no extra features and the Chinese subtitles on the film cannot be hidden.

It is believed to be the first time a major U.S. studio has simultaneously released a film in theatres at home and on DVD abroad.

The DVD will sell for as little as $2.65 US, more than a bootleg copy costs in China, but will be of better quality than any pirated version.

Adapted from Ann Brashares' 2001 best-selling book, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, the film tells the story of four best friends going separate ways for the summer and taking turns wearing a single pair of jeans that magically fits their different sizes. Warner had not intended to release the film in Chinese theatres.

The studio is not necessarily looking to repeat this test at home or in other markets, Craig M. Hoffman, a Warner Bros. anti-piracy spokesperson, told the Associated Press.

China is notorious for its underground piracy industry, which can produce bootleg copies of a popular U.S. movie just days after its North American theatrical release.

Hoffman called the region a "perfect storm" of piracy. Hollywood has to contend with government quotas and review boards that restrict its access to the Chinese market, he said, but the pirates face no such restrictions.

"It's a necessary move," said movie industry analyst Tom Adams of Adams Media Research. "It's obviously not as good as having control of the Chinese market, but it's about the next best thing that you can do."

According to the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents the major U.S. film studios, the industry loses more than $3.5 billion US or the equivalent of 18 per cent of last year's feature film revenue each year to bootleggers dealing in VHS tapes and DVDs, plus an undetermined amount to those who trade movies online.

Some critics have said that the strategy could backfire, if bootleggers find a way to incorporate the high quality Warner Bros. DVDs into their copying efforts.