Live broadcast room, a new “paradise” for watching TV series?

This article discusses the phenomenon of TV drama live streaming in e-commerce apps. It reveals new problems that companies have unexpectedly encountered in their efforts to solve content anxiety, and reminds us to balance the interests of all parties when making decisions. By analyzing the root causes and negative impacts of this phenomenon, the article provides a reference for the management and content strategy of e-commerce platforms. Recommended for those who want to understand the content challenges and solutions faced by e-commerce platforms,.

People who use e-commerce apps for 10 hours a day may not be shopaholics, but they have found a "pure land" to watch TV series mindlessly.

Chen Min (pseudonym), a Beijing white-collar woman who is keen on online shopping, was "shopping" on an e-commerce platform as usual, but found that a live broadcast room was playing the TV series "Knowing Your Destiny" - it can be played in full screen with high enough clarity, and there is a scrolling real-time discussion on the right side of the interface. More importantly, watching TV series in the live broadcast room is completely free, there is no need to pay for video membership, and you don’t have to watch advertisements.

Chen Min was hit hard on the pain point. Who hasn't had the experience of indigestion on video websites? I wanted to watch a drama while eating, but the ads were 100 seconds at the beginning and end, several in the middle, and they were scattered in the corners with small windows from time to time. Even if you buy a membership, there is a little "prestige", but not too much, and the ads are still grinning in unexpected places.

Chen Min watched "Do You Know?" for more than an hour in one go, and couldn't stop. As she watched, she forgot that she was "shopping".

On e-commerce platforms, there are quite a few live broadcast rooms that broadcast film and television dramas. They play those classic TV dramas repeatedly around the clock and can be regarded as model workers.

"This drama has been broadcast at least six times," said a user in the live broadcast room that was playing "Marrying the Wrong Man". In the morning, when washing up, Chen Min would use a TV drama live broadcast room as background music. At night, she can still use the same live broadcast room to help her sleep.

Like Chen Min, many people watch TV series in the live broadcast rooms of e-commerce platforms. Hefan Finance found that even on weekday mornings, some live broadcast rooms that broadcast TV series have tens of thousands of viewers, and some live broadcast rooms have more than 400,000 viewers.

The key word that attracts tens of thousands of people to watch TV series in live broadcast rooms is "free". Some live broadcast rooms clearly put the word "free" on the main page , and the introduction reads "Watch classic suspense films for free", "Watch classic Korean dramas for free", and "Watch the four classic novels for free".

They mostly broadcast classic old dramas, such as "The Story of the Editorial Department", "Dream of Red Mansions", "Yongzheng Dynasty", etc., as well as popular dramas in recent years such as "Long River" and "Knowing Your Destiny".

In fact, watching TV series outside of iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video is not new. Last year, a number of accounts dedicated to live-streaming TV series appeared on Douyin, Kuaishou and Video Number.

However, watching TV series on e-commerce platforms is a rare thing. In May this year, iQiyi sued an e-commerce platform for allegedly infringing on the rights of broadcasting TV series, and "watching TV series on e-commerce platforms" entered the public eye for the first time.

E-commerce and TV series may seem like a forced couple at first glance, but they are actually quite a good match after a closer look. Similar to content platforms, TV series and movies can enter the live broadcast room of e-commerce platforms because of traffic: personal accounts need traffic to gain revenue, and e-commerce platforms are in urgent need of content traffic. The natural advantage of TV series and movies is that they can greatly increase user time. The common goal brings e-commerce and TV series together.

However, this model has the risk of copyright infringement. Lawyer Xu Jiali, founder of Longan Law Firm, said that if a TV series or film is played in a live broadcast room without the authorization of the copyright holder, it will involve infringement and be illegal. Individuals can obtain copyright, but it is limited to personal reasonable use. If it exceeds the reasonable scope, commercial use must be paid, and failure to pay constitutes a violation of the law.

On a certain e-commerce platform, the "Pioneer Drama Screening Room" broadcasts the TV series "Marrying the Wrong Man in the Right Carriage" 24 hours a day, and the page is marked with the words "Right Copyright". However, Hefan Finance found that "Marrying the Wrong Man in the Right Carriage" is an exclusive drama on iQiyi, and users need to open a membership to watch the content.

iQiyi responded to Hefan Finance that iQiyi has the exclusive right to disseminate "Marrying the Wrong Man" on the Internet and has not authorized any individual or other platform to broadcast the content live.

Lawyer Lu Dingliang, a partner at Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, also said that under normal circumstances, TV dramas will not be individually authorized to unspecified small anchors. If the anchor has neither obtained the authorization for the TV drama nor paid the license fee for broadcasting the TV drama in the live broadcast room, he will face the risk of infringement.

While e-commerce platforms are anxious about content, there is a huge gray market behind the live streaming of film and television dramas.

It is understood that at present, the main ways to monetize TV drama live broadcasts are live streaming and teaching others to live broadcast. Through TV drama live broadcasts, these mass-produced accounts gain traffic, which they monetize on e-commerce platforms by selling goods; on the other hand, they post on other social platforms and charge fees by selling courses related to "unmanned live broadcast of TV dramas", with prices ranging from tens to thousands of yuan.

Obviously, the gray industry that has permeated major content platforms has spread to e-commerce platforms that are eager for content traffic.

01

If you search for "追剧" in the live streaming section of a certain e-commerce platform, you can find multiple accounts that are live streaming TV series. Some of these accounts have only 400 to 500 fans, while others have nearly 100,000 fans.

It doesn’t seem difficult to operate a live streaming room for watching TV series.

An anchor who broadcasts movies on a certain platform told Hefan Finance that the source of the live broadcast content (films and TV series) needs to be downloaded by yourself, preferably in high definition. After downloading the films and TV series, they can be broadcast on multiple live broadcast platforms. Watermarks and brand logos such as "iQiyi" cannot appear, and "icons of other platforms must not appear," the anchor repeatedly emphasized.

The anchor also said that occasionally someone would report it and the live broadcast would be interrupted, but it would resume after a while, and most of the reports were from colleagues.

If you want to do live streaming of TV series and movies, relevant tutorials are available everywhere at a very low price. On social platforms and e-commerce platforms, you can easily buy relevant TV resources and live streaming tutorials by searching for the keyword "live streaming of TV series and movies" with attractive copywriting such as "0 fans live streaming movies" and "no one live streaming tutorials for movies, earning 6,000 yuan per live streaming".

Hefan Finance placed an order for a set of "Movie and TV Unmanned Live Streaming Tutorials" priced at 29.9 yuan. The seller quickly sent the method of obtaining the resources, which included dozens of movies, and the guidance on how to conduct unmanned live streaming, including how to use a computer or mobile phone to live stream. A notice on the start of broadcasting showed that if there was a violation reminder during the broadcast of a TV show or film, "you can stop broadcasting, wait a few hours and then broadcast it again or the next day."

By live-streaming TV dramas, these TV drama anchors have gained traffic and fans. Compared with content platforms, it seems easier to monetize e-commerce by being a TV drama anchor in a live broadcast room. Some anchors in live broadcast rooms have already put up Baby Pocket.

The live broadcast room named "Pioneer in Chasing Dramas and Ancient Costume Idol Class Representative" has 88,000 fans. There is a product link in the lower right corner of the live broadcast room, and users can shop directly in the live broadcast room.

It is worth noting that even if the copyright is legitimate, there are still legal risks in selling goods in the live broadcast room of movies and TV series. Lawyer Lu Dingliang said that whether there is the right to put a small yellow car in the live broadcast room still depends on the scope of the license agreement between the anchor and the copyright owner of the film and TV series: if the copyright owner allows the anchor to conduct secondary sales in a specific period and specific live broadcast channel, then the sales behavior is compliant; if the sales are conducted without authorization, it involves infringement.

But it doesn't matter. In addition to directly posting product links in the live broadcast room to bring goods to cash in, the more common way for live broadcast anchors to monetize is to sell courses - that is, to teach others to live broadcast TV series. This kind of course is not as "cheap" as the 29.9 yuan tutorial.

Hefan Finance contacted a merchant who specializes in "unmanned live streaming", who said, "Unmanned live streaming can be achieved with just a mobile phone and a computer." Of course, the prerequisite is that tuition fees need to be paid.

In several communities organized by the other party, such as "Copyright Near Group Leader", many new members were asking "how to get film and television copyrights", and the other party would ask everyone who needed "film and television copyrights and authorizations" to add WeChat. Hefan Finance also added WeChat, and several documents sent by the other party showed that the full teaching fee was 6,980 yuan, and the option of signing a guarantee contract was 19,800 yuan.

I don’t know whether you can make money by live streaming TV shows and movies, but as long as you pay, the person selling the courses will definitely make money.

Users who have purchased similar courses said that this is a tax on IQ and pure leeks. The above-mentioned anchor who does movie live broadcasts also said that you should not believe in the courses that charge thousands of yuan, "unless you want to be a leek."

02

Regardless of whether it is a content platform or an e-commerce platform, the biggest hurdle for live streaming of film and television dramas is still copyright.

Cooperation between platforms may provide convenience for this. An industry lawyer analyzed that as long and short video platforms reach a cooperation agreement, short video platforms can reasonably use the content of long video platforms. This is legal and compliant. It is possible that some accounts have been authorized to play film and television works.

A person working in the film and television industry said that whether a short video platform can live broadcast a TV series depends on whether the short video platform has obtained the authorization of the producer as a whole (similar to copyright). If it has, the platform allows individual users of the corresponding platform to display these copyrighted contents in any form.

An anchor who broadcasts TV dramas on a short video platform said that one way to obtain copyright is through formal channels, which include submitting materials to the Copyright Center, paying fees after review, and the Copyright Center accepting the application and issuing an acceptance notice, registering it, issuing a registration certificate, and announcing it. Another way is to directly find movies without copyright restrictions, "so there is no risk of being blocked due to copyright issues."

Hefan Finance found that in the live broadcast room, one can also see some copyrighted dramas that long video platforms such as iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video do not own the copyright. For example, a host played the Korean TV series "Autumn in My Heart" in the live broadcast room of an e-commerce platform, and another host played the TV series "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" in the live broadcast room.

It is worth noting that on a certain e-commerce platform, some TV drama live broadcast rooms are marked with the words "copyright compliant". However, Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, said that whether the live broadcast room is marked "legal and compliant" does not affect whether the TV series is really legal and compliant. Even if it is marked "copyright compliant", if the source of the video is pirated, it is still an infringement.

It is not a new thing to broadcast movies and TV series in the live broadcast room. Previously, accounts for live broadcasting of movies and TV series have appeared on platforms including Douyin, Kuaishou, Video Number, Huya, etc. , and similar situations still exist today.

In addition to the cooperation between platforms, the attitude of "turning a blind eye" seems to have left a way for the live broadcast of film and television. Tech Planet once mentioned in a report that an anchor who broadcasts film and television dramas said that the platform's attitude towards such content is "acquiescence" and any drama can be broadcast live. Another anchor said that the platform allows live broadcasts of film and television dramas, but sometimes they will receive warnings. "If you encounter a warning, just stop broadcasting and then start broadcasting again." Although according to regulations, anchors cannot broadcast films and television dramas without copyright, in most cases, such content can still be broadcast normally.

Disputes over “video relocation” between long video platforms and short video platforms and live streaming platforms are not uncommon. Last year, a host live-streamed the TV series Nirvana in Fire on Huya, and the number of followers in the live streaming room alone exceeded 280,000. iQiyi filed a lawsuit against Huya, accusing the host of infringing copyright and unfair competition.

After trial, the court held that the behavior in question was that the anchor presented the works in question to the public through the Huya platform by live broadcasting. Since there was no evidence in this case to prove that the anchor had obtained relevant authorization to broadcast the works in question, the anchor's behavior directly infringed the copyright enjoyed by iQiyi Company in the works in question.

In the end, Huya escaped the accusation of unfair competition, but was required to pay iQiyi 230,000 yuan in compensation for infringement.

Due to film and television copyright issues, long and short video platforms were once incompatible. However, in the past two years, under pressure from revenue and copyright compliance, long and short video platforms have reached a truce and made specific agreements on short video secondary creation forms such as commentary, remixes, and stripping, and the cooperation between the two parties is moving towards standardization.

However, the cooperation did not extend to the scope of "live broadcast". iQiyi also stated that iQiyi did not authorize short video platforms and their accounts to broadcast iQiyi platform content.

Generally speaking, the fact that it can still be broadcast does not mean that there are no hidden dangers. Many live broadcast rooms for film and television dramas are facing risks.

Live streaming of TV series and movies is a traffic bonanza that has attracted many gray-market businesses and has also infected e-commerce platforms. Although watching TV series on e-commerce platforms is not yet mainstream, objectively, e-commerce platforms have already reached out to iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video.

03

The rampant gray market for film and television dramas is of course also related to the traffic anxiety and content anxiety of e-commerce platforms.

In order to tap into traffic, e-commerce platforms have been building their own content ecosystems. Live broadcasts, short videos, novels and other sections that used to only appear on content platforms have gradually become the "standard configuration" of e-commerce and other trading platforms.

Live streaming of TV series and movies has grown in this context. The biggest benefit to the platform is that it can not only bring in users, but also extend the user time. The annual active buyers have reached the ceiling, and e-commerce platforms are in urgent need of new "hooks". The same motivation is behind the e-commerce platforms' crossover into the long video field.

It can also be seen from the various measures taken by e-commerce platforms that in this content-oriented trend, they do not want to miss out on the traffic gold mine of "film and television dramas" in order to increase daily active users and user usage time.

It is precisely because of this anxiety of e-commerce platforms that a large number of gray market businesses have been "fed" under the incentives of traffic and cash. After all, e-commerce platforms have also paid real money for content creation.

However, while alleviating content anxiety, e-commerce platforms also face this problem: how to solve the hidden dangers brought about by gray product business?

iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video have survived the copyright war and have become the survivors of the video websites. They have maintained their leading position by investing heavily in content. In order to protect copyright, long video and short video platforms have also experienced a lot of copyright lawsuits, and now the same problem is left to e-commerce platforms. While alleviating content anxiety, e-commerce platforms may also have to go through the many copyright issues that short video platforms have experienced.

Author: Xue Yaping

Source: Hefan Finance (ID: daxiongfan)