How to Avoid Copyright Risks When Hotels Get Sued for On-Demand Movies?

“Your hotel’s TV system plays a copyrighted film without authorization, constituting infringement. Please contact us within 7 days, or we will file a lawsuit.”

In recent years, such letters have become increasingly common for hotel operators. Many have been forced to pay compensation ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan. TV on-demand service, meant to improve guest experience, has turned into a high-risk area for copyright infringement.

How Do Hotels Step Into Copyright Traps?

Many hotels adopt risky practices to cut costs or simplify installation:

Downloading movies and shows online and storing them on local servers for in-room on-demand use

Using live or on-demand apps from untrusted sources

Accepting cheap signal sources from small integrators without verifying copyright licenses

All these constitute infringement under the Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China.Even if the hotel does not charge guests directly for viewing, it is still liable for unauthorized internet communication of copyrighted works.

How Costly Is Infringement?

Court awards for hotel TV infringement have been rising sharply:

Compensation per film: usually ¥5,000–¥50,000

For a library with dozens of unlicensed works: total fines can exceed ¥100,000

Professional rights claimants often conduct mass evidence-collection and sue multiple branches at once, putting huge pressure on hotel groups.

Beyond financial losses, hotels may also face:

Administrative fines from copyright authorities

Reputational damage from media exposure

Service suspension or mandatory rectification

Legitimate On-Demand Solution: Avoid Risks at the Source

AINOPOL’s converged communication solution integrates legally licensed on-demand platforms such as Tencent Aurora into the TV system.All content is fully copyrighted; hotels do not need to purchase, store, or manage any media.

When guests watch premium content, they pay by scanning a QR code. Copyright liability is borne by the platform, fully eliminating infringement risk for the hotel.

Core advantages:

Zero copyright cost: No need to buy film rights

Zero storage risk: No local media storage, avoiding easy evidence collection

Zero maintenance hassle: Platform handles content updates and license renewals

Hotels Can Even Earn Revenue Sharing

Using legitimate on-demand services is not just “buying safety” — it creates extra income.Hotels receive a fixed share of every paid movie or show ordered by guests.High-occupancy hotels can earn thousands to over ten thousand yuan per month in non-room revenue.

Compliant Live TV Signal Sources

Live signals also carry copyright and regulatory risks. Many hotels use illegal “small headends” to redistribute satellite or internet signals, violating radio and television regulations.

AINOPOL supports official clean broadcasting signals and carrier IPTV soft terminals (China Telecom, Unicom, Mobile, etc.), ensuring fully legal and traceable sources.

Blocking Professional Claimants

Professional claimants target hotels because evidence-gathering is cheap and easy: they check in, record the screen, verify copyright ownership online, and file a claim.

A legitimate on-demand system breaks this chain entirely.All paid content is authorized and linked to real user payments. Even if someone attempts to collect evidence, no infringement can be established.

Hotel TV copyright compliance is not a trivial issue. One infringement fine can equal years of system maintenance costs.

AINOPOL’s legitimate on-demand solution helps hotels provide secure movie services with zero copyright cost, zero storage risk, and ongoing revenue share. Compliance is not a burden — it is the foundation of stable hotel operations.