Douyinthe Chinese version of TikTok, y Tencent Holdings have smoothed over years of strained relations between the two despite their shared nationality and have reached a collaboration agreement for the distribution of short and long-form video content, putting behind them a long period of copyright disputes.
In a statement released last Friday, April 7, Douyin confirmed the signing of an agreement with Tencent regarding the promotion of long and short videos, as well as the exploration of derivative works. Under the agreement, Tencent will authorize Douyin to distribute its video contents and clarify copyright rules for users to make modifications and adaptations.
As a result, users of Douyin, Xigua Video and Jinri Toutiaoall of them operated by ByteDancemay produce derivative works based on videos owned by Tencent.
Douyin and Tencent finally reach consensus.
In their statement, Tencent states that cooperation is “an important step for the audiovisual industry in the innovative use of film and television content copyright.”and that both companies will continue to explore new ways to make better use of long and short videos based on respect for copyright.
The collaboration ends years of copyright disputes between. Tencent y Douyinas short video apps gained prominence to the detriment of streaming sites. The number of short video users surpassed 1 billion for the first time by the end of 2022, accounting for 94.8% of all mobile Internet users in China, according to figures released by the China Internet Network Information Center March.
The end of years of copyright dispute.
In recent years, Tencent launched multiple lawsuits against Douyin for alleged unauthorized use of copyrighted content owned by Tencent. In one of the most high-profile cases of 2021, Tencent claimed damages of 800 million yuan (approximately $123 million) from Douyin for allowing users to broadcast Soul Landan anime series that airs exclusively on Tencent Video, China’s state-run newspaper reported at the time. Securities Times.
The newspaper quoted an anonymous source close to. ByteDance according to which Tencent had filed 168 copyright infringement lawsuits against. Douyin since June 2021, requesting total compensation of 3 billion yuan. In 2021, the National Copyright Administration of China said it would step up scrutiny of copyright infringement, following a public call by film and TV producers to end the practice of producing short videos using clips from popular blockbuster movies and TV series.
However, short video apps and streaming sites began to establish copyright alliances in 2022. Last year, Douyin signed agreements with Chinese video streaming platforms. Sohu, LeTV e iQiyirespectively. Collaboration between the short- and long-form video platforms will be “an important way to resolve copyright infringement,” stated February the Copyright Society of Chinaaffiliated with the government.
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