cover news reporter Li Yuxin
In the summer of 2023, a short drama "Escape from the British Museum" became a hit, telling the story of a jade pot escaping to find his hometown. It was rated as "a small short drama with big feelings", which attracted countless netizens Cry. Recently, topics related to it have appeared on social platforms and been widely discussed.
Stills from "Escape from the British Museum"
On April 7, 2024, the topic #Escape from the British Museum creator issued a statement to protect rights# was on the hot search, and one of the main creators of the short play "Escape from the British Museum" @ summer sister oh was on the social platform issued a statement saying that fans have recently reported to it that there is an "artifact" exhibition called "Escape from the British Museum" and tickets are on sale. The statement also read: "First of all, as a producer, we declare: We have never had commercial authorization to outsiders, nor have we authorized this exhibition." Another main creator @ pancake fruit also spoke out on the short video platform, expressing this situation. Very angry. After the release of the
statement, it sparked heated discussions among countless netizens on the Internet, and the topic of whether the exhibition was suspected of infringement was also frequently discussed. On the morning of April 8, the cover news reporter contacted Mr. Wang, the head of media of the curatorial team, and he denied that the exhibition contained any infringement. "We do not recognize the position of infringement mentioned by the short video party and are firmly opposed to it." At the same time, as an exhibition party, Mr. Wang also "called out" to the two main creators of "Escape from the British Museum", hoping that they can come Come to the exhibition hall to have a look and have some exchanges.
Creator rights protection:
The exhibition is not authorized to use the text content
"It's a cup, it's a thin jade pot with a Chinese branch pattern!" When the girl dressed in Hanfu opened her bright eyes and said this sentence excitedly, this The scene has also become a classic scene in the short drama "Escape from the British Museum", which is still fresh in the memory of many viewers. Going back to August 2023, the short drama "Escape from the British Museum", which has a total of three episodes and each episode is less than 10 minutes, was launched and became one of the hottest film and television topics of the year. Just after this film and television work became popular, this IP also received great attention. Many film and television scripts with similar names and similar creative ideas sprung up like mushrooms after a spring rain, and began to file and project approvals one after another.
"Since the release of "Escape from the British Museum", many film and television media and text and graphic publishing houses have wanted to obtain our authorization, but we have never given it because we do not want the content of works created for public welfare to be used Commercial profit." According to a statement released by short video blogger @夏美annyoh on April 6, the original intention of the creative team was to attract more people to pay attention to this matter, so they spent their own money to do such a charity project. thing. "The museum's unauthorized use of our lines as material for commercial exhibitions is an infringement," the statement read.
The creator of the short drama "Escape from the British Museum" issued a rights protection statement. According to the creator's official Weibo account
Also on April 6, another creator of the short drama @ pancakeguozai also published a long article on the video platform, expressing that many places Exhibition, using the lines of the short play as commercial exhibition material without authorization is an infringement. In addition, the main creator also wrote that this statement is by no means a declaration of sovereignty over the cultural relics of the British Museum or the title of the play. "Cultural relics belong to the country, and the title of the drama comes from the comment area of netizens. The real source cannot be verified (if it cannot be found, it is the crystallization of knowledge belonging to all netizens) but absolutely! It does not belong to the organizer of the exhibition!"
asked the two main creators What kind of existence is the exhibition of the same name that makes people feel so angry? The reporter checked the online platform and found that the "Escape from the British Museum" exhibition was held in Wuhan, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou and other places, and there were ticket sales links on different online platforms. Among them, the Wuhan Pavilion exhibition has been launched on April 4. On the video platform Douyin alone, user comments have reached more than 2,000. However, as of the morning of April 8, all ticket purchase links on the Douyin platform have been removed, but they can still be purchased normally on websites such as Dianping.
The curator responded:
I hope the creators of the short drama will come to the exhibition to take a look
"First of all, we believe that as an exhibition organizer, we have nothing to do with infringement in doing such an exhibition. We have not committed any infringement." That's it. While the topic was spreading on the Internet, the cover news called Mr. Wang, the media leader of the exhibition curatorial team. On the day when the two main creators spoke out, the curator @Escape from the British Museum also responded on the video platform. The corporate certification body of this account is the Wuhan Branch of Guizhou Jiushi Culture Co., Ltd.
The picture of netizens’ evaluation of the exhibition on the video website Douyin
“About the curation ideas, including the evaluation of the exhibition by online self-media bloggers that we have noticed so far, or the comments of netizens, we have also noticed. Most of them Part of the content has been expressed very clearly in our statement." Mr. Wang said. The statement stated that the idea for the exhibition came from a video seen on the Internet in January 2023. The suggestion in the video comment area to make an animation "Escape from the British Museum" resonated with the curator Tian Tian, and in The venue for the "Escape from the British Museum" exhibition project will be confirmed in June 2023. In the statement,
also attached a screenshot of a WeChat chat during the preparations for the exhibition. The time in the screenshot is June 2023, long before the video of the short play "Escape from the British Museum" was released. However, some netizens questioned that the name and related introduction of the exhibition did not appear clearly in the screenshots, which did not prove that the curators had the idea of "Escape from the British Museum" at that time. In response to this question, when the reporter asked whether the curator would provide more proof of creativity in subsequent responses, Mr. Wang said that the curator did not need to provide such content.
"We actually don’t need to provide the early curatorial ideas, including some screenshots. Because we know the real curatorial ideas and intentions, including the entire curatorial process. For netizens’ doubts, we are here We can give some responses when it’s convenient. But we believe that the purpose of the exhibition and the effect we want to achieve are more important.” Mr. Wang said, and he also hopes to speak to the creators of the “Shout” short play. More short video bloggers can come to the exhibition to have a look and communicate.
The creator said that the exhibition used lines and content from the short play without authorization. According to the Jianbing Guozai Douyin account
, according to the news released by the creator of the short play, the exhibition "Escape from the British Museum" was used without authorization. The lines from the short play are used below. When the cover news reporter asked whether the curator had contacted the creator of the short play to obtain authorization after the topic became fermented, Mr. Wang said that he did not know whether colleagues from other departments had contacted him. "But I think as a curator, there is no need to get in touch with them. Everyone can just do what they are doing." In the
interview, Mr. Wang emphasized that the curatorial team had done some investigations before, and as an exhibition organizer, , the registration of the "Escape from the British Museum" trademark, they also made relevant registrations with the Copyright Office. At the same time, the exhibition party also reserves the right to sue in the face of claims of infringement. According to the intellectual property information of Tianyancha, "Escape from the British Museum" has been applied for trademark registration by multiple parties, including Guizhou Jiushi Culture Co., Ltd. According to the trademark process information, the trademark status is "awaiting substantive review".
In addition, in response to the fact that the ticket purchase link for the "Escape from the British Museum" exhibition on Douyin cannot be purchased, Mr. Wang also responded that because on this platform, many self-media bloggers privately used the online short drama "Escape from the British Museum" 》The content in the short video was released in a short video and the exhibition was positioned, causing the public to misunderstand that the exhibition party had maliciously infringed on the short show party, so the link was temporarily removed from the shelves, but it should be put up again soon, and offline The exhibition is in normal operation.
"Currently, on all major platforms across the Internet, the positive rating rate from customers of the exhibition should be over 90%. However, some visitors have put forward some pertinent suggestions and opinions about the exhibition after visiting the exhibition. We are still sorting and evaluating it.In subsequent exhibition periods, the exhibition, exhibits and services will be further optimized. "
Lawyer's opinion:
There may be unfair competition
So, does the exhibition of the same name "Escape from the British Museum" constitute an infringement? In this regard, the cover news reporter interviewed Ke Xinxin, a senior partner and lawyer at Sichuan Linglun Law Firm, She talked about "Escape from the British Museum" itself and whether the text combination itself is original. If it is original, it enjoys copyright.
And one of the main creators of the short play @ pancake fruit boy also said in the statement, " The title of the play "Escape from the British Museum" came from the comment area of a netizen, and the real origin has been unable to be verified. Ke Xinxin also said that if "Escape from the British Museum" is related to a specific work, there may be unfair competition and should be reasonably avoided. Use with caution.
As for the use of lines from the short play as exhibition material in the exhibition, Ke Xinxin said: "As for the lines in 'Escape from the British Museum', if they are original, they will enjoy the copyright of the work. If you own a copyright and use it in commercial exhibitions without the permission of the copyright owner, this behavior violates Article 47 of the Copyright Law. Using the work in exhibitions, making movies, or using methods similar to making movies without the permission of the copyright owner, His behavior is suspected of infringement. "
In addition, Ke Xinxin also said that if the same name is used in a commercial exhibition, there may be confusing and misleading behaviors such as "hitting porcelain" and "free riding", which violates Article 6, paragraph 4, of the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law". According to " Paragraph 4 of Article 6 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law: “Operators shall not engage in the following confusing behaviors to cause people to mistake goods for other people’s goods or to have a specific connection with others:… (4) Other things that are sufficient to cause people to mistake goods for other people’s goods. or confusing behavior that has a specific connection to another person. "
It is worth mentioning that after the short drama "Escape from the British Museum" became popular, this IP became highly sought after by the cultural industry. According to the intellectual property information of Tianyancha, "Escape from the British Museum" has been applied for registration by many parties The trademark applicants include Beijing Chaole Wuxian Culture Communication Co., Ltd. and natural person Zhang. The international categories include education and entertainment, jewelry and watches, furniture, etc. The trademark process information shows that currently, the status of the above trademark applications is "waiting for rejection review" or "Notice of rejection issued".
In addition, according to the notices issued by the National Film Administration on September 15 and October 13, 2023, regarding the filing and project announcement of national film scripts (summaries) in August, the notices for that month A total of two animated films with the same theme, "Escape from the British Museum" and "Escape from the British Museum", have been registered. Among them, Beijing Chaole Infinity Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. has registered and approved the animated film "Escape from the British Museum". The screenwriter of the film is "Walking on the Moon Alone". Director Zhang Chiyu
.