Chinese Short-Drama Platforms Agree to Protect Actors and Crew
Beijing (ANTARA) - Thirty-eight Chinese short-drama platforms, which broadcast short-form dramas in a vertical format, have agreed to a convention protecting the rights of actors and crew, covering employment contracts to education and legal services.
The convention, initiated by the Short Drama Working Committee and the China Association of Audio-Visual Program Service, aims to protect the rights and interests of actors and crew and promote the healthy and sustainable development of the short-drama industry.
The agreement requires written or digital contracts between employers and workers that can be verified and clearly outline the scope of work, duration, working period, salary, compensation, and responsibilities for breach of contract.
Production companies are required to pay salaries on time and in accordance with the agreed amount, open a salary guarantee account, and implement a salary advance payment mechanism to prevent payment arrears.
Safety aspects are also regulated in the convention, which requires a safety assurance system, emergency plans at production locations, safety responsibility letters, and the presence of professionals to supervise high-risk scenes.
The convention also ensures that the rights of underage actors to rest and receive education, health care, and guardianship are met by production companies throughout the production process.
According to the convention, child actors are prohibited from performing scenes involving violence, horror, or emotions beyond the child’s age-appropriate understanding.
In addition, production companies, together with industry associations and related parties, are required to regularly hold rights protection and legal education sessions, provide legal consultation services, and establish a fast-track dispute mediation mechanism.
Major platforms that have signed the convention include iQIYI, Bilibili, Kuaishou (SnackVideo), Youku, and WeChat Video Channel.
A number of users on Chinese social media, Weibo, have expressed support for the implementation of the convention. However, some of them have called for the implementation of stricter regulations.
One Weibo user complained about the repetitive storylines after watching several short dramas, and another user suggested supervision and enforcement to prevent plagiarism of storylines.
Chinese government media reported that there are 100,200 companies producing short dramas.
The market value of short dramas is reported to reach 70 billion RMB (approximately IDR 161 trillion) and the target audience is up to 696 million by 2025.
In recent years, the Chinese government has been increasingly active in creating regulations to govern the industry.
The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), which oversees the short-drama industry, has removed 25,300 short dramas with a total of nearly 1.4 million episodes from the end of 2022 to early 2023 due to containing low-quality content such as pornography and violence.
Chinese authorities in November 2024 released guidelines for industry players in the short-drama industry to avoid stories about marriages with CEOs of famous companies or wealthy families because they are considered to promote ostentatious wealth, power, and excessive lifestyles.
NRTA last year required platforms to obtain broadcasting and distribution licenses for short dramas in order to broadcast their content.