LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Warner Bros. film studio said on Wednesday it will offer movie downloads online through ViDeOnline Communications Ltd. in Hong Kong, a key movie market where film piracy has plagued Hollywood.
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Through its Web site named 08Media, ViDeOnline will offer newer films such as "Superman Returns" and Oscar-winning "Happy Feet," as well as numerous older titles from its library like "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."
About 100 titles will initially be available, Warner Bros. and ViDeOnline said in a statement. The price per download was not disclosed.
The agreement comes against a backdrop of illegal copying and distribution of movies on DVDs and on the Internet. Hollywood studios claim that piracy costs them more than $6 billion a year in lost revenues. A key arena where studios are battling piracy is China.
One strategy employed by Hollywood is to get consumers more top quality copies of legal movies faster.
"This deal fits perfectly with our philosophy of providing consumers around the world with access to our world-class entertainment," said Jeffrey Schlesinger, president of Warner Bros. International Television, a division of Warner Bros.
ViDeOnline Chairman and Chief Executive Dr. Priscilla Lu said the company uses digital video watermarking and other technology to guard against copying.
Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc.
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