text | reading entertainment, author | Lin Fujii
song that has been popular all over the country for more than half a year is still in trouble.
At noon on February 3rd, attorney Zhao, who was entrusted by the relevant authorities, issued a document stating that the Beat (the accompaniment in Hip-Hop music) of "Wild Wolf Disco" had not obtained commercial authorization, and was caught after the copyright owner contacted the gem team Rejection, the news once again sparked public discussion on music plagiarism.
Admittedly, "Wild Wolf Disco" has nothing to do with plagiarism. Gem Gem is indeed the songwriter of this song. The rap lyrics and melody Hook are both created by the old man, but it is still difficult to offset the shamelessness of netizens for its infringement. However, due to the live broadcast of the old uncle's response on the night when the incident was revealed, the discussion about plagiarism was caught in a dilemma.
Just after the gem Gem boarded the 2020 CCTV Spring Festival Gala to complete both fame and fortune, such a news may re-influence the public's view of the creator of the 2019 golden song, and once again let us see the Luo Sheng happening due to profit. door.
A targeted response made the infringement of "Wild Wolf Disco" a mystery.
Before this news was revealed, in November last year, netizens and the media noticed some of the "Wild Wolf Disco". At that time, whether "Wild Wolf Disco" copied the Italian singer SPOLPA's "DIMMI" was a discussion point, and netizens found the suspected plagiarism because both songs used the same Beat.
In fact, it is very common to hear the familiar Beat occasionally in the field of rap, because the creative motivation of rap works often comes from Beat. After hearing the inspirational melody, Rapper can use authorized sampling to make Beat and then rap. The creation of lyrics and melody, so a high-quality melody was photographed by several Rappers at the same time, it is also reasonable. So last year, some media believed that "Wild Wolf Disco" did not have plagiarism, but its problem was whether it was authorized.
On the night when the incident was exposed, Gem Gem responded to the incident via Weibo live broadcast, stating that he had purchased a non-exclusive license for US$99, and showed a picture of the receipt for the purchase of this Beat in June 2019. There is more uncertainty about multiple topics on the hot search event.
In this discussion on "infringement", the two main points are whether the gem gem is authorized, and the use of "Wild Wolf Disco" to participate in commercial performances has caused infringement. After the gem gem responded, these have become More vague. The first uncertainty of
is whether "Wild Wolf Disco" has bought Beat?
First of all, Gem Gem showed a screenshot of the receipt of his purchase of "More Sun" in response, but we cannot judge whether the screenshot is true or false through the live broadcast. Secondly, he showed the sub-track folder to prove that he did purchase 99 yuan. The rental package can be divided into tracks. But coincidentally, I don’t know if he is too anxious or what, he did not open the subtrack to share with the live broadcast user, only the subtrack file name and the version of Beat without the "biubiu" watermark were displayed, and the audio was not played more The hard-to-erased "Ihaksi" part was quickly closed . Although we should not speculate on others with malicious intent, this point does not dispel his doubts about whether or not to purchase authorization.
The second one is uncertain, is the use of "Wild Wolf Disco" for commercial performances really infringing?
In February 2018, Finnish music producer Ihaksi created the work "More Sun" and uploaded it to YouTube, SoundCloud, and the Beat sales platform Beatstars, and stated that "More Sun" is open and free for non-commercial use by others, but needs to be included in the Credit section Mentioning Ihaksi himself, mentioned in the $99 rental package written on Beatstars (the purchase receipt produced by Gem Gem is this platform), which is allowed to be used in commercial performances, but it is not allowed to resell this agreement to others , And the lease time limit is 5 years .
However, the contradiction is that the contract picture shown by in Lawyer Zhao’s article, and the gem GIn the picture of the contract shown by em, it is stated that this Beat is not allowed to participate in commercial performance . The purchase statement on the sales platform is contrary to the displayed contract, making it difficult for us to determine who is the problem. If Gem Gem really purchased a $99 rental package, then whether the current online participation in commercial performance is infringing or not, It may also need to be determined after subsequent negotiation between the two parties.
Regarding the third point of uncertainty, it's more vague. As mentioned above, using "More Sun" as Beat requires Ihaksi to be marked in the creation column. A large number of netizens pointed out that "Wild Wolf Disco" was not marked when it was released. Previously, the arranger in the "Wild Wolf Disco" entry on Baidu Encyclopedia It is also "Gem Gem" , but the current arranger of major music platforms is "Ihaksi", and there is a possibility of subsequent changes , which also makes it full of uncertainty whether Gem Gem has fulfilled the free agreement.
To put it simply, judging from all the picture evidence presented by Lawyer Zhao and Gem Gem himself, it is impossible to determine the infringement of "Wild Wolf Disco", and all evidences with definitive effect are pictures, and the infringement cannot be cleared Suspect, so we can only say that on this day, we ate an unclear melon.
An anxious old uncle
Although we can't judge whether "Wild Wolf Disco" has infringement, we can clearly know that the old uncle is anxious. In the live broadcast of
's response to Gem, in addition to showing various evidences of his own purchase of the Beat rental package, he also showed the email communication between him and the original Beat creator Ihaksi. On November 2 last year, the agent of Gem Gem sent an email to Ihaksi expressing that he wanted to buy out the copyright of "More Sun". After that, Ihaksi replied and rejected the request, and then the agent sent another email on November 4 Expressed the idea of buyout, but got a reply of rejection on November 7th.
So why did he think of buying out the Beat copyright?
First of all, as mentioned in the previous rental package, even after has purchased a lease authorization of $99, Gem Gem can use "More Sun" for only five years. After five years, you will either choose to remove "Wild Wolf Disco" from the entire network. Or choose to continue to buy the rental package . In terms of the long tail effect of music, buying out the entire Beat is the most appropriate method.
Secondly, the eager search for buyout at this time node may be related to its performance on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 2020. Through the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, "Wild Wolf Disco" and the gem gem will be more remembered by people, so buying out can be said to be necessary. However, from the results, Ihaksi refused this request without any leeway. Therefore, on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, we saw "New Year Disco" without "More Sun" as the accompaniment.
Of course, this is only the first manifestation of the old uncle's anxiety, and another manifestation lies in the news that Gem Gem announced on Weibo on the night of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala broadcast.
On January 24 this year, after Gem Gem appeared on the 2020 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, it expressed through Weibo that it would donate all the copyright proceeds of "Wild Wolf Disco" to the families of medical staff in Wuhan, which instantly won praise from a large number of netizens and fans. , Let the public see the aura of a rapper and care for society.
According to Lawyer Zhao's information, at this time, Massima International, the copyright agent of "More Sun" in China, contacted the gem team. In other words, after receiving the information that the gem team was judged to be infringing, they chose to donate all the copyright proceeds. This can be regarded as a "challenge" by the gem team against the copyright party, regardless of whether the copyright party wants to agree on a new one There are still other plans for the license agreement, and Gem Gem first gained a wave of goodwill.
Of course, from another point of view, it may be understood that this is Gem’s loan of flowers and Buddha, but since he showed the picture of buying a 99 USD authorized rental package, we have to have one more idea. Maybe this is indeed the case. Belongs to the scope of the free control of gem Gem.
So now, the old man is really anxious, eager to let the outside world see him clearly, And eager to really get "More Sun" in his hands.
is true or false, the “infringement” caused by the interests of Rashomon
Before Gem Gem’s live broadcast response, public opinion was overwhelmingly inclined to Beat original creator Ihaksi. Most of the netizens support rights protection, which actually shows that the current music copyright environment in my country already exists. A big improvement. However, in the article issued by Lawyer Zhao, there were also various ambiguities, and after the gem Gem responded, these ambiguities were completely transformed into a Rashomon.
In an article published by Lawyer Zhao at noon on February 3, it only mentioned the discontinuation requirements for several digital music platform parties and record companies, and clearly showed the picture of the lawyer’s letter, and in terms of communication with the gem team Although it also expressed the request to stop the use and emphasized the need for authorization, it did not show the corresponding lawyer's letter. Whether there are other contents in this, it will inevitably make people wonder. After all, in the face of the most important "infringement" subject, how can people be convinced without disclosing the information?
is included in the letter of attorney to stop the use of digital music platforms, but it lacks the presence of Tencent Music Entertainment Group. You must know that Tencent Music Group has three digital music platforms with a large number of users, as well as Ali’s Xiami Music , Let NetEase Cloud Music and Migu Music stop using it, but not restrict Tencent Music Entertainment Group and Xiami, etc. Why?
After the gem Gem and his team responded, it made it more difficult for the outside world to see the truth.
First of all, if Gem Gem really purchased a $99 rental package, then the copyright party according to the agreement has no right to stop "Wild Wolf Disco" from continuing to use "More Sun", and the supplementary license agreement no longer exists, which is in line The copyright agent did not make a clear request to the gem team, but it was only an assumption.
Secondly, if Gems Gem did not purchase a $99 lease package, then why did lawyer Zhao’s article specifically show a $99 authorized lease package contract? After all, Ihaksi also has an authorized rental package of US$29 and US$49, and the US$29 rental package on the BeatStars platform clearly states that it is not allowed to participate in commercial performances. If it is to highlight the infringement of "Wild Wolf Disco" for commercial purposes, directly display Wouldn’t it be better for the platform statement to match the purchase contract for a $29 lease package? Or is it to show that the $99 lease contract in advance is to prevent the gem team from "reversing"?
So combined with Gem Gem’s response, as well as the ambiguity and text orientation in Attorney Zhao’s article, it is possible that Gem Gem did purchase the authorized rental package for $99, but there is no evidence to clarify the doubts we listed in the previous article. This judgment It's still hard to get out easily.
Apart from this, what else can the copyright agent Massima International negotiate with the gem team? Either it is a game on whether "Wild Wolf Disco" is infringing or not, or there are other ideas. In response to the agent of Gem Gem,
gave a chat record of a certain Taiwanese Mr. Chen and the team. Mr. Chen stated that he had grabbed the exclusive agency right of "More Sun" in mainland China, indicating the infringement of "Wild Wolf Disco" , And proposed to cooperate with the gem team. The conditions of cooperation include the creation of the Hokkien version based on the original arrangement and the original song. The commercial revenue generated by the "Wild Wolf Disco" version of "More Sun" before November 14 must be shared by the company , If the two parties reach a cooperation, the company will account for 40% of the interests since November 15. The exposure of the chat record of
made the "infringement" incident of "Wild Wolf Disco" even more confusing.
First of all, we can't prove whether really exists Mr. Chen or not. After all, chat screenshots are easier to operate. Secondly, if Mr. Chen really exists, what does he have to do with Massima International? In Lawyer Zhao’s article, Ihaksi stated in the video that the exclusive agency rights that he authorized to Massima International are not limited to the mainland, but also include Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan in China, which is contrary to what Mr. Chen said “the exclusive authorization of the mainland” , If Mr. Chen is not an employee of Massima International, then a third party came out to swallow the cake of "Wild Wolf Disco".
The third point, if Mr. Chen exists and is an employee of Massima International, and the chat record is real, then we really have a bite of melon: Ihaksi, the original creator of "More Sun", got to know "Wild Wolf Disco" after receiving the email from the agent of Gems Gem. Some netizens on YouTube also said "Wild Wolf Disco" is the Chinese version of "Old Town Road" (this song is The hottest overseas streaming media hits in 2019, the creator of this work earned millions of dollars in income), which made him feel more emotional, so that he can earn more benefits by authorizing copyright agencies instead of Simple buyout.
Of course, the best effect of in the response of Gem Gem and its agent on February 3 was to turn Gem Gem from an infringer to a "victim" of the extortionist, thereby guiding the trend of public opinion. "Mr. Chen" is the key to this, so the information about Mr. Chen requires us to judge carefully. This is also the point that brought this "infringement" dispute to Rashomon.
So looking back on the whole, this time "Wild Wolf Disco" "infringement" incident, may only really care about whether the original creator has been infringed, only netizen . If
Ihaksi is really offended by the infringement, you can directly request "Wild Wolf Disco" to stop using "More Sun" and ask the infringer to apologize; or accept the buyout proposal and directly use a pot of gold to solve the problem. Instead of choosing an agent, the development of things is more uncontrollable.
For gem Gem, if you really bought a $99 rental package, you can also directly show your purchase record and open the sub-track audio to show your respect for the original when it is suspected of infringement in November last year. When things get upset, find an opportunity to "wash out" and reverse, and use big events to highlight your noble posture. The
response does not mean the whole truth. Everyone has a corresponding motivation for doing everything, and behind it is the thinking of the operator. Speaking of it, it was just a multi-party game due to profit, but it made many netizens give their true feelings. Fortunately, because of this incident, we have seen Chinese netizens' support for defenders, and we only hope that this incident will not destroy the market awareness that has been so hard to cultivate.
