THE top copyright watchdog has pledged to strengthen the crackdown on bootlegging of films in theaters and strictly inspect online platforms that sell or spread pirated works, the China Daily reported yesterday.

Inspections will focus on websites, smartphone applications, WeChat accounts and e-commerce platforms, the National Copyright Administration said early this week.

Serious piracy cases will be transferred to police departments to be dealt with as criminal matters, it said.

Several popular movies shown in cinemas, including “The Wandering Earth” that is now ranked second in China’s all-time box office, were found to have been pirated during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday that ended Feb. 10.

Movie piracy remains a serious problem that is hard to solve, as “many pirated movies are put on websites that use overseas servers,” Chen Yongwei, an intellectual property professional at Peking University, told the newspaper.

The copyright administration said that it was aware of overseas servers and would increase international law enforcement cooperation with other countries and regions this year. (Xinhua)