worked for less than half a year, and his live broadcast income was only more than 3,000 yuan. However, due to insufficient live broadcast time, he was required to pay 1 million yuan in compensation.
This tortuous experience made Wang Yue completely give up the idea of continuing to be an online anchor. In August 2022, she signed an exclusive acting cooperation contract with an acting company. More than five months later, because the live broadcast duration did not meet the minimum time limit stipulated in the contract, the company believed that Wang Yue had seriously breached the contract and required him to pay liquidated damages of 1 million yuan.
Currently, the number of online live broadcast users in my country has exceeded 800 million. As market demand continues to grow, online anchors have become a career choice for more and more people. As the number of people working in the industry continues to grow, disputes between anchors and entertainment companies are also increasing. In an interview, a reporter from Workers' Daily found that the determination of live broadcast duration and the resulting disputes over high liquidated damages often become the focus of controversy in labor dispute cases involving online anchors. Even in the contracts provided by some mcn agencies (agencies that specialize in providing services to online video creators), the terms regarding live broadcast duration and liquidated damages may contain hidden traps.
broadcast for 4 hours, and only 2 hours were considered valid.
"It is almost impossible to meet the live broadcast duration required by the contract."
Xiaoxin, an online anchor who has just joined the industry, told reporters that his MCN organization requires some anchors to Live broadcast for at least 26 days per month, and the "effective live broadcast duration" must be 130 hours.
"What counts as an 'effective live broadcast'? This is an area that is easily overlooked and 'trapped' when signing a contract." Bian Siyu, a former part-time network anchor, said that some MCN organizations do not directly count the live broadcast duration when calculating it. The absolute duration of live broadcasts of online anchors is included in the statistics. Instead, indicators such as the number of viewers, the number of interactions, and the amount of rewards are included in the statistics. "Only when certain standards are met, it is considered an 'effective live broadcast duration.' Often a live broadcast lasts for 4 hours, and only 2 hours are considered valid." "
" Not only that, equipment debugging, short video shooting, training and learning before and after the live broadcast are generally not included in the live broadcast time. "Xiaoxin told reporters that according to the organization's requirements, it seems that the average live broadcast is 5 hours a day, but in fact. It may take more than ten hours of work. "It's common to stay up late to live broadcast and work for many hours continuously. In the long run, the body simply can't bear it."
reporters reviewed the dispute cases involving online anchors involving live broadcast time in recent years and found that "the effective live broadcast time is insufficient" has become the evidence cited by some MCN agencies One of the main reasons why network anchors break the contract. In order to complete the "effective live broadcast duration" task, many anchors have to extend their working hours. In recent years, due to high-intensity work, irregular work and rest, and lack of sleep, anchors have even fainted during live broadcasts.
In the contract signed by Wang Yue, the duration of the live broadcast was also clearly agreed upon. As the company's anchor, Wang Yue's live broadcast duration standards are: 6 hours of live broadcast time per day, no less than 150 hours of effective live broadcast per month, and no less than 26 days of broadcasting. Otherwise, Wang Yue will be deemed to have seriously breached the contract.
Wang Yue made a request to the company to cancel the contract on the grounds that he was unwell and unable to withstand high-intensity work, and there were a large number of unequal clauses in the contract, but the company refused.
was sued for 1 million yuan for not broadcasting for enough time
"The unreasonable and vague live broadcast duration regulations have greatly increased the difficulty of meeting contract requirements." Liu Shaowen, who has worked for an mcn organization in Beijing for a long time, said that once the live broadcast duration standard is not met, , network anchors are very likely to face difficulties such as not being able to get a basic salary, excessive labor intensity, etc., and may even be required by the mcn agency to pay high liquidated damages.
"I have been working for more than two months, and my monthly income is less than 3,000 yuan, but I have been compensated 200,000 yuan in liquidated damages!" What makes Xiaoxin unacceptable is that because he failed to broadcast for the agreed length of time, he was unable to receive a guaranteed salary to maintain his daily life. Life, after voluntarily terminating the contract, the mcn agency demanded high compensation.
After Wang Yue signed a contract with his previous performing arts company, his total income in nearly half a year was 3,725 yuan. In stark contrast, the contract signed by both parties stated that if Wang Yue breached the contract, the company would need to pay a liquidated damages of 2 million yuan.The company applied for arbitration after determining that Wang Yue had breached the contract, claiming that it had suffered actual losses and required Wang Yue to compensate him for liquidated damages of 1 million yuan.
There are many similar cases. Where do liquidated damages that far exceed income come from? Is it reasonable?
Xue Jun, a professor at Peking University Law School, said in an interview that the amount of liquidated damages should be determined by comprehensively considering the cost of the mcn organization and conducting a scientific and accurate business valuation. "We cannot place unreasonable burdens on those who cannot bear it." "
"Whether liquidated damages are reasonable depends on the nature of the legal relationship between the two parties, as well as the cost investment of the mcn organization and other factors." Professor Scope of the School of Labor Economics at Capital University of Economics and Business pointed out that if the two parties form a labor relationship, according to my country's labor contract. According to the provisions of the law, the situation in which the mcn agency agreed with it on liquidated damages does not comply with the provisions of the law. If the amount of liquidated damages is significantly higher than the institution's losses, the People's Court and others will make adjustments as appropriate.
In the end, in the dispute between Wang Yue and the entertainment company, the company did not provide relevant evidence that he suffered actual losses. The arbitration committee ruled that the standard clauses in the contract were invalid and Wang Yue decided to pay liquidated damages of 30,000 yuan to the company.
clarifies the basic rules of working hours in the industry
"It is reasonable to set live broadcast duration rules, but the main controversy in practice is that the calculation and evidence rules for this duration are not clear." Scope stated that the "effective live broadcast duration" rule is unreasonable , is the main way some mcn organizations infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of network anchors.
"It is obviously unreasonable to count the live broadcast duration based on uncertain factors such as the number of viewers, and it is very detrimental to network anchors." Regarding the setting of the live broadcast duration, Xue Jun suggested that both parties should clarify the specific calculation rules for the live broadcast duration in the contract. It is best to use objective factors such as "actual broadcast time" as the standard.
Regarding disputes related to actual losses and the amount of liquidated damages that are difficult to quantify, the Supreme People's Court issued a guiding case that clearly stated that if a network anchor claims that the liquidated damages stipulated in the contract are obviously too high and requests for a reduction, in situations where the actual losses are difficult to determine, Under this circumstance, the People's Court may make a reasonable decision based on factors such as the actual income of the network anchor, the characteristics of the online live broadcast industry, and the platform's initial investment.
"Clearly clarifying the legal relationship between the two parties is the key to solving the problem of unreasonable live broadcast duration mechanism and high liquidated damages." Xue Jun said that if it is a labor relationship, it is protected by labor law, and rules such as working hours and liquidated damages should be set. Comply with labor laws and regulations.
believes that special laws and regulations can be formulated, or targeted guidelines can be issued to clarify the attributes of the legal relationship between mcn organizations and network anchors. In addition, industry self-discipline should be strengthened and common rules should be formulated to avoid vicious competition within the industry.
"Relevant management departments can issue corresponding guidelines to clarify the basic rules for calculating working hours in the online anchor industry." The scope is supplemented, and rules for inversion of the burden of proof can be set up, with the mcn agency bearing the corresponding burden of proof.
(Some interviewees are pseudonyms)
Source: Workers Daily reporter | Chen Dandan
