A record number of mobile game developers and publishers including Tencent, 360 and Changyou have joined an initiative to improve the industry's self-discipline.

Organized by the Internet Society of China and the Capital Copyright Industry Alliance, a mobile game copyright protection and training initiative began on July 25 in Beijing. It includes a copyright protection vow signed by representatives of the nearly 100 participating companies.

It calls for Chinese mobile game companies to strictly obey national copyright laws, safeguard the industry's reputation and promote a sustainable and sound growth, said the Internet Society of China's mobile Internet working committee.

The industry should improve self-discipline, respect copyrights and cooperate with government enforcement officials to fight piracy, said the agreement.

In addition, mobile game companies are encouraged to increase investment in innovation and provide high-quality and safe products and services to customers.

The initiative also calls for increased copyright awareness from Chinese mobile game players to jointly establish a healthy Internet environment.

The number of players and market share for China's mobile game industry has skyrocketed with smartphones becoming increasingly popular and the 4G network expanding.

As the most mature business model in mobile Internet, games have become the main force driving consumption of information products and services, experts said.

China now has more than 360 million online game players who generated 25 billion yuan ($4 billion) in revenues in the first quarter of the year, including about 6 billion yuan from mobile games, said Lu Wei, secretary-general of the Internet Society of China.

The mobile game industry has ties with animation, literature, TV series and films, so it needs a copyright chain that covers multiple entertainment sectors, Lu said.

"Mobile game companies should put more focus on international copyright cooperation and try to establish a copyright risk prevention mechanism," Lu said.

Yu Cike, director of the copyright management department under the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said "copyrights are the core of mobile games".

"Companies in the music, literature and software industries should also improve industry self-discipline and copyright protection," said Yu.

Wang Yefei, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Copyright Bureau, said during the event that the nature of the copyright problem was economic, so "we should pay more attention to develop the reasonable industrial business models to manage copyrights".

"The copyright is one of the strategic weapons for mobile game companies, and today's initiative marks the day that the industry stepped into a more mature or healthier stage," he said.

Han Zhiyu, secretary-general of the Capital Copyright Industry Alliance, called for a "win-win environment" between copyright owners and purchasers in the era of the mobile Internet.

During the forum, intellectual property experts from companies also shared their experiences and practices in copyright protection from the perspective of mobile game developers and operators.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/30/2014 page17)