"Zhu Yu" Copyright Leaked, Platform Just Aired 30 Episodes as Pirated Version Already Updated to 40 Episodes, Multiple Parties Speak Out!

Source: Securities Times Online Author: Wu Zhi

Recently, the online drama “Zhu Yu” has been popular on major platforms, but just after airing 30 episodes, pirated full episodes are suspected to be spreading across the internet.

In response to piracy and infringement, on March 22, the three parties—including the broadcasting platform Tencent Video, iQIYI, and the producer—jointly issued a statement against piracy.

The statement mentioned that during recent rights protection monitoring, the production team discovered that someone on the internet was unauthorizedly and illegally distributing and selling pirated content of “Zhu Yu.” This piracy severely disrupts normal broadcasting order, infringes on the legitimate rights of the producers and the broadcasting platform, and also causes great harm to creators and viewers.

The production team stated that while condemning and resolutely resisting piracy, they will thoroughly investigate the sources of piracy and reserve the right to pursue criminal liability and compensation for damages.

Public information shows that the costume drama “Zhu Yu” is co-produced and distributed by Tencent Video, iQIYI, Zhejiang Dongyang Haohan Film & TV, among others. Directed by Yuan Qingjie, starring Zhang Linghe and Tian Xihe, the series has a total of 40 episodes.

Shortly after “Zhu Yu” was launched, on March 11, iQIYI announced that the show’s popularity score exceeded 10,000, entering the iQIYI “Hall of Fame.” According to Maoyan data, six days after its premiere, the total exposure across the internet reached 10.798 billion.

Latest data from Maoyan shows that “Zhu Yu” has ranked first on the online drama popularity list for three consecutive weeks.

However, such a popular drama has encountered serious copyright infringement issues.

It is reported that around March 21, when “Zhu Yu” had only aired 30 episodes on the platform, the full 40-episode resource had already been leaked, with the leaked version in high-definition 4K quality.

Securities Times reporters found that on multiple online and social platforms, resources related to “Zhu Yu” can be easily found, many of which can be played directly in high-definition quality. Currently, major platforms have aired up to 32 episodes, but these resources include all 40 episodes.

(Part of “Zhu Yu” resources circulating on online platforms)

In addition, some of the leaked resources include the script and novel of “Zhu Yu.” The complete leak of high-definition copyright resources has become a serious copyright breach event in the drama industry in recent years, causing significant losses to the relevant rights holders.

According to the China Copyright Association, on the afternoon of March 16, the association held a long-drama copyright protection seminar in Beijing. The discussion focused on key issues such as infringement and piracy in the long-drama industry, strengthening copyright protection measures, and the practical implementation of judicial punitive damages. Participants included platforms like Tencent, iQIYI, Youku, and Mango TV.

The China Copyright Association stated that copyright protection is an important guarantee for the healthy development of the long-drama industry. While increasing administrative penalties for copyright violations, they also called on judicial authorities to lawfully increase the application of punitive damages, continuously explore more precise standards and enforcement paths, and use economic measures to effectively cut off the piracy industry chain, making infringers pay a heavy price and fundamentally reversing the imbalance of low piracy costs and high profits.