Warner Gets a Jump on Film Pirates in China [pdf]

In a groundbreaking response to movie piracy, Warner Bros. Entertainment released its latest film on DVD in China the same day it debuted in U.S. theaters.

The goal for Warner is to battle rampant piracy in China by giving movie fans a legitimate alternative to bootlegs. But the boldness of Warner’s action, which it took last week with no fanfare, was tempered by its choice of movie: “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” a relatively low-budget film that the studio had not planned on releasing in Chinese theaters.

Nevertheless, several industry executives said they believed it was the first time a major U.S. studio had taken a movie scheduled for a wide-scale theatrical run and released it simultaneously on DVD in another country.