Negotiating State and Copyright Territorialities in Overseas Expansion: The Case of China’s Online Video Streaming Platforms

‘Negotiating State and Copyright Territorialities in Overseas Expansion: The Case of China’s Online Video Streaming Platforms’, by Elaine Jing Zhao, Media Industries Journal 2018, 5(1), DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/mij.15031809.0005.107

Abstract: This article uses China’s online streaming platforms as a typical case of the overseas expansion of digital entertainment media. It begins with an overview of the evolution of the online video industry in China, which has become formalized and consolidated over the past decade, before directing attention to the often informal cross-border access to mainland digital platforms among diasporic audiences. The article then examines platform-initiated expansion with a detailed analysis of the Baidu-owned online streaming platform iQiyi’s entry into the Taiwanese market. By analyzing the regulatory dilemma over market entry, the complexities of negotiating windows in multimarket, and multimedia distribution involving varied business models and modes of access, the article highlights the challenges of negotiating multiple forms of territoriality. It also reveals the place of local and regional partnerships in such outbound trajectories.