Recently, the rights protection of the creator of the short drama "Escape from the British Museum" of the same name has caused heated discussions. The customer service staff at the Wuhan Station of the cultural relics exhibition "Escape from the British Museum" said that the exhibition and the short play are only similar in name and have no connection in content. The organizers of the exhibition issued a statement saying that the name of the exhibition came from the comments section of netizens.
In this regard, some lawyers analyzed that the organizer of the cultural relics exhibition took advantage of the popularity of the short play's name, and its behavior was enough to cause confusion among consumers. Although it did not constitute copyright infringement, it constituted unfair competition and should bear infringement liability according to law.
The cultural relics exhibition of the famous short play of the same name is on public sale
Customer service: It’s just that the names are the same, and there is no connection in the content
Recently, the cultural relics called "When Will I Come Back? Escape from the British Museum" are on public sale. On April 6, one of the main creators of the short play "Escape from the British Museum" of the same name @xiameimeiao posted on Weibo saying that the show had never granted any commercial authorization, nor had it been authorized for the exhibition. Another member of the creative team of the short drama also said that the title of "Escape from the British Museum" came from the comment area of netizens. The real source cannot be verified, but it definitely does not belong to the curator.
Red Star News reporter noticed that the short play "Escape from the British Museum" was directed and performed by two members. It will be launched on various online platforms on August 30, 2023, with a total of five episodes.
▲@xiameimeoh Weibo screenshot
On the evening of April 6, the official Douyin account of the curator of the cultural relics exhibition issued a statement in response, saying that some Internet experts had used the online short drama "Escape from the United Kingdom" without permission. Museum" and publish short videos and locate the exhibition hall without permission. The publisher should immediately delete or rectify the videos, pictures and text content related to the online platform that are suspected of infringing the rights of third parties.
In addition, curator Tian Tian said that in January 2023, he saw in the comment area of other people's videos that a netizen proposed to shoot an animation of "Escape from the British Museum". He used this as inspiration and wanted to plan such an animation. Exhibition, and contacted various commercial entities in Wuhan in mid-June 2023, and the official exhibition installation will be completed in December 2023.
On April 7, a reporter from Red Star News called the customer service hotline of the Douyin platform Wuhan station "Escape from the British Museum" about this matter. The staff said that the exhibition and the short play were only similar in name and had no connection in content.
reporters searched on multiple platforms and found that the cultural relics exhibition on the Douyin platform was titled "Escape from the British Museum" and that the tickets for the exhibition have been removed from the shelves. The customer service of the Wuhan Station Douyin platform merchant said that he did not know why the tickets were removed from the shelves, but tourists could go to the site to buy tickets. On the Meituan platform, the full name of the exhibition is "Escape from the British Museum". Tickets are still on sale, with a single price of 58 yuan and a double price of 88 yuan.
Is the cultural relics exhibition of the same name suspected of infringement?
Lawyer: It constitutes unfair competition and should bear tort liability.
Zhao Liangshan, senior partner of Shaanxi Hengda Law Firm and a well-known public interest lawyer, believes that the titles of short dramas are often too short and lack the necessary depth, which cannot fully reflect the author's thoughts and emotions. , reflects the creative expression of the main creator, does not constitute a complete work, and is not protected by copyright law, but it can still seek protection from the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
Because the short play is called "Escape from the British Museum", the title of the short play constitutes a well-known product. “In this incident, the organizer of the cultural relics exhibition took advantage of the popularity of the short play’s title, and its behavior was enough to cause confusion among consumers and violated the principle of good faith. Although it did not constitute copyright infringement, it constituted unfair competition and should bear infringement liability according to law. "Zhao Liangshan said.
Julie Li, a lawyer at Beijing Tianshuang Law Firm, also believes that according to Article 3 of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China, the works referred to in this law refer to originality in the fields of literature, art and science and can be expressed in a certain form As an intellectual achievement, "Escape from the British Museum" does not meet the definition of a "work" under copyright law and therefore cannot be protected by copyright law.However, the rights holder of "Escape from the British Museum" can protect its own rights and interests through the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. Article 6 of this law stipulates that operators shall not use without authorization the same or similar logos as other people's product names, packaging, decoration, etc. that have certain influence. , causing people to mistake it for someone else’s product or having a specific connection with someone else.
▲Information with pictures according to icphoto
Lawyer Zhao Liangshan also said that if consumers are misled by the wording "Escape from the British Museum" used by the organizer of the cultural relics exhibition, they mistakenly think it is the short play "Escape from the British Museum", and they are directed at the short play "Escape from the British Museum". "Escape from the British Museum" to consume, then the organizer of the cultural relics exhibition has violated the consumer's right to know, and consumers can ask the organizer of the cultural relics exhibition to bear refunds and other responsibilities.
Lawyer Julie Li said that if the organizer of the cultural relics exhibition "Escape from the British Museum" declares that it has a cooperative relationship with the short play "Escape from the British Museum" when selling tickets to consumers, it may place some scenes from the short play. Misleading consumers on the sales page constitutes false advertising. Article 45 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law stipulates that if a consumer’s legitimate rights and interests are damaged because an operator uses false advertising or other false publicity methods to provide goods or services, he or she may demand compensation from the operator. Lawyer
Julie Li believes that from a legal perspective, the exhibition party cannot claim that its name comes from the Internet comment area. If the exhibition party wants to claim that it does not bear responsibility, it needs to provide that they have started the short play before it is publicly broadcast. Evidence of use. Otherwise, you still need to bear responsibility.
Lawyer Zhao Liangshan also pointed out that perhaps the content of the exhibition has nothing to do with the short play, or the name may come from the netizen comment area, but it is an indisputable fact that the title of the short play "Escape from the British Museum" is a well-known product, and the exhibition title has the same name as the short play , suspected of free riding and popularity, which can easily mislead consumers and violate the principle of good faith. Therefore, the exhibition’s defense is untenable and untenable.
Red Star News reporter Chen Qingyuan intern Li Siqi
editor He Xianfeng editor-in-chief Deng Haoguang
