The whole story of the closure of subtitle websites

On the night of November 22, the well-known subtitle downloading website Sagittarius.com was officially shut down. Its founder Shen Sheng posted a message on his personal Weibo, saying goodbye to the Internet era in which Sagittarius.com existed with an article titled "Breaking Up, Giving Up, and Leaving."

The day before, there was news on the Internet that five servers of Renren Film and Television Network were blocked by the copyright department. Renren Film and Television Network, which is famous for translating subtitles of British and American TV series, provides Chinese and English bilingual subtitles for download, and also releases some British and American TV series resources.

Tencent Technology learned that the main reason for the seizure of Renren Yingshi’s servers was copyright issues. The national and Hunan provincial copyright regulatory departments jointly enforced the law, and some servers have been taken away for investigation.

Most private subtitle groups produce and share subtitles for non-profit purposes, but they cannot avoid the legal dilemma in the subtitle production process.

Legal experts pointed out that in the production process of the subtitle group, the downloading and uploading of film and television resources have already crossed the legal boundaries. Especially when domestic video websites have introduced genuine products, the closure and suspension seems to have been foreseen by all parties.

The closure of Renren and Shooter triggered a chilling effect

The prelude to Sagittarius.com's farewell had already begun when the Renren Films website became inaccessible.

On November 21, some netizens found that the subtitle website Renren Yingshi.com was inaccessible. On the 22nd, the page of Renren Yingshi.com that was restored posted a notice that "the website is cleaning up content."

The announcement said: "The website is cleaning up its content. Thank you for your love and support. Please follow us on Weibo. This website has been established for more than 7 years since 2004 by a group of international students in Canada. Thank you for your company along the way. We have always maintained an attitude of learning and sharing, whether it is translating excellent overseas film and television dramas or open courses at world-renowned universities. We hope that our work can be helpful to everyone, which is enough."

A few hours later, the content of the announcement on the Renren Films website was changed again. The website announced that the Chinese website was officially closed. The reminder left also informed users that they need to carefully choose according to the laws and regulations of the region where they are located when visiting the international version, and they will bear the consequences themselves.

Details of the seizure of Renren Yingshi’s servers were once circulated on the Internet. According to the graphic information posted by netizen “七星天体昂”, five servers of Renren Yingshi were seized on November 21, and the law enforcement department put seals on the servers with the words “Copyright Bureau” marked on them.

"Qixingtiantiang" is the moderator of the Baidu Tieba "Renren Film and Television", but the netizen said he would not accept interviews and did not comment on the matter.

The well-known subtitle download website Shooter.com was also shut down shortly afterwards. On the night of the 22nd, founder Shen Sheng published a farewell speech titled "Break, Give Up, and Leave", explaining his departure.

"Sagittarius.com has been with me for 15 years. I hope the value of Sagittarius.com will be to enable more people to transcend national barriers and understand different cultures in the world." Shen Sheng said in the article that if this website can help people, he will be very satisfied.

"The era when Sagittarius.com was needed has passed." Shen Sheng concluded with this, announcing the official closure of Sagittarius.com.

An insider revealed to Tencent Technology that the server of Renren Film and Television Network that was seized this time was located in a data service center in the northwest of Changsha City, Hunan Province. The data center has about 20,000 servers.

It is said that on the afternoon of November 21, staff from the Hunan Province Copyright Supervision Department arrived at the data center computer room without prior notice and informed the computer room management that the Renren Film and Television server needed to be sealed due to copyright issues. After finding the location of the Renren Film and Television server, the copyright supervision department staff posted seals on the server and then took away some servers for further investigation.

Tencent Technology learned from multiple channels that Renren Film and Television was shut down, the Hunan Provincial Copyright Regulatory Department participated in law enforcement, and the case was being handled by the Copyright Bureau.

It is said that the five servers are not concentrated in Hunan. The seizure was led by the National Copyright Regulatory Department, and other departments also participated in the law enforcement action.

After the closure of Renren Films and Shooter.com, a chilling effect spread in the subtitle circle. The old subtitle group TLF Subtitle Group, which became famous for translating Yale University open courses, and the Dianbo Subtitle Group, which was established in 2012, also announced that they would temporarily close. In addition, many subtitle groups also declined Tencent Technology's interview on the grounds that they were "at the center of controversy."

Renren Video: "I'm Still Unconquered"

On November 28, some netizens said that Renren Video had resumed access for a while, but soon, the "resurrected" Renren Video jumped back to the previous announcement page.

On the afternoon of November 29, the announcement released by Renren Yingshi website was changed again: the Chinese website was officially closed, and the international version was under discussion, with an unknown opening date. According to previous media reports, the IP address of its website after domain name resolution was located in South Korea and Singapore.

"We have revealed the information to the outside world." Although it avoided a direct response to the "closure and suspension" incident, an insider informed Tencent Technology through a Sina Weibo post published by Renren Yingshi on November 28 that Renren Yingshi will still exist.

"invictus maneo." This simple Weibo post from Renren Yingshi comes from a Latin line from the American TV series Person of Interest. Renren Yingshi's subtitles for the series are quite popular among fans.

According to netizens, the line means "I am still not conquered." Currently, the Weibo post no longer exists.

There are more footnotes behind this "parting". Some netizens have found that in recent days, when they typed the website address of Renren Yingshi in the browser, the traditional Chinese characters "Renren Yingshi China website officially closed" appeared in the label information of the webpage. After these traditional Chinese characters, a string of power-off symbols followed.

"We will come back soon." Renren Yingshi left a message after the breakpoint symbol. Soon, netizens happily discovered this secret.

In the early years, when Renren Films was becoming famous, its head Liang Liang had accepted media interviews many times. However, after experiencing many "closures and suspensions", this time, Liang Liang and his Renren Films put up a "no-interviews, please do not disturb" notice.

Sword of Damocles

Most private subtitle groups produce and share subtitles for non-profit purposes, but they cannot avoid the legal risks in the subtitle production process. Copyright issues are like the sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of subtitle groups, which may fall at any time.

"Subtitle groups' translations are not in a gray area." Although he is also a subtitle translator, Guan Xin has analyzed the environment that subtitle groups are in from a legal perspective. "If we use copyright as an excuse, subtitle groups are in an undeniable illegal area," Guan Xin said.

"Netizens have been forgetful in the past two years. In the subtitle community, this incident is not sudden." Guan Xin said that in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011, subtitle groups on the Internet were investigated and punished by relevant departments. He noticed that the concept of "copyright" was increasingly emphasized. Before 2012, pirated American dramas were everywhere on major video websites. After rectification, these video websites cleaned up pirated resources.

"To some extent, the closure of subtitle groups seems to be foreseeable." Liu Yan, a legal service practitioner in the entertainment industry, told Tencent Technology. As the co-founder of "Rushi Entertainment Law", Liu Yan's job is to provide legal affairs consulting services for the entertainment industry and he is familiar with the laws in the entertainment industry.

Although the content shared by subtitle groups varies, some subtitle groups only provide subtitle download services, while others share film and television resources while sharing subtitles. However, in Liu Qian's opinion, domestic subtitle groups have always faced legal risks. "There is one thing that is consistent, subtitles are also part of the copyright transaction of genuine film and television resources, and its effect and value are strongly attached to the TV series and movies themselves, which makes these subtitle websites intentionally or unintentionally become a link in the piracy economic chain."

According to the Copyright Law, using a work in translation without the permission of the copyright owner constitutes infringement, except where the Copyright Law provides otherwise. "The 'otherwise provided' here refers to the issue of fair use. However, as mentioned earlier, under the current business model of imported copyrights, the subtitle group's defense of fair use under the Copyright Law is untenable."

Liu Qian cited relevant provisions in the Copyright Law and the Regulations for the Implementation of the Copyright Law to indicate that "the business model of subtitle groups is based on infringement," and this is precisely where the legal risk of subtitle groups lies.

crossroads

In recent years, the domestic online video market has expanded significantly. According to a report by iResearch Consulting, the scale of China's online video market in the first three quarters of 2014 was about 17 billion yuan, nearly doubling year-on-year. In order to compete for the market, websites have introduced a large number of genuine British and American films and TV series.

Liu Qian said that after a large number of genuine dramas were introduced, the copyright holders certainly had the right to translate the foreign dramas they purchased. The actions of the subtitle group actually infringed upon the legitimate rights and interests of the copyright owners of these domestic dramas.

"Because in the business model of introducing copyrights, it is usually divided into exclusive broadcasting or non-exclusive broadcasting. In non-exclusive broadcasting, the channels that broadcast first will pay higher copyright fees - video sites are competing for this time." Liu Yan said that the subtitle group's rush to release resources is obviously contrary to the commercial purpose of video sites purchasing copyrights.

As early as April 2009, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Internet Audiovisual Program Content", which clearly stipulates that domestic and foreign films, TV series, domestic and foreign cartoons, etc. that have not obtained relevant licenses shall not be distributed on the Internet.

On December 30, 2013, four central ministries jointly launched the "Sword Net Operation" to order Baidu Video and QVOD to stop copyright infringement, make rectifications and impose fines on them.

On March 19, 2013, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Online Audiovisual Programs Such as Online Dramas and Microfilms", requiring the strengthening of content review of online audiovisual programs such as online dramas and microfilms.

On April 26, 2014, four American TV series were suddenly removed from video websites on the grounds that they were uncopyrighted or contained content that did not comply with Article 16 of the "Internet Audiovisual Program Service Management Regulations" (No. 56 of the former State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the former Ministry of Information Industry).

"The law enforcement department seems to have had plans to sort out the regulatory policies." Liu said that she noticed that since 2013, policies have been introduced step by step, and the logic of supervision is obvious, which is to gradually implement the responsible subjects of Internet content, that is, to sort out the responsible subjects on every operator and investor, and eliminate individuals and other entities that are difficult to supervise. She believes that it is difficult to implement subtitle groups, which are organized and collaborative units, into the regulatory system.

Obviously, the subtitle group has come to a crossroads in its development. In the early years, when Renren Films was gaining popularity, its director Liang Liang accepted many media interviews. But after experiencing many "shutdowns and suspensions", this time, Liang Liang and his Renren Films put up a "no interviews, please do not disturb" notice.

However, at this stage, subtitle groups such as Renren Films cannot avoid copyright pressure from existing laws, regulators and copyright holders.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.