Recently, anchor "Heilun" who became popular on the Internet by imitating singer Jay Chou, started a tour, and the songs he performed were all Jay Chou's popular works. Some netizens said that there are no tickets for the "Heilun" performance, and they are sold in the form of regular booths in the bar. The highest low-end purchase at the Hangzhou station was 6,000 yuan. After
's "Heilun" offline tour was suspended, it held a "concert" online. Many fans sent Swan Lake, rockets (virtual gifts in the live broadcast room), etc., with the amount of rewards starting from 99 yuan It ranges from over a thousand yuan.
A reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" noticed that similar imitations abound now, and their appearance, behavior, clothing and even online names are very similar to celebrities. Some netizens said that some anchors look similar to celebrities, so it is not a big mistake to imitate hairstyles and dressing styles. Some netizens also asked, if they deliberately imitate celebrities, gain traffic from celebrities, and make money by selling goods through live broadcasts, does this involve infringement? Experts interviewed by
pointed out that celebrities, as subjects of civil rights, enjoy personality rights, copyrights, performers' rights and other legitimate rights in accordance with the law, which should be respected and protected. Impersonators should conduct live broadcast performances within the scope of the law and cannot harm the legal rights of other subjects. rights and interests. Online platforms can use artificial intelligence, big data analysis and other technical means to improve the efficiency and accuracy of online information review, and promptly discover and deal with illegal content; relevant departments should also take regulatory measures to clarify the boundaries of imitation behavior and protect the legitimate rights and interests of original creators .
commercially performed
under the guise of celebrity status. Public information shows that "Heilun" was organized by an entertainment company and cooperated with bars associated with the entertainment company to carry out a "national tour". In the promotional video released by the bar, there is a picture of "Heilun" imitating Jay Chou's classic saying "Oh, that's good."
It is understood that the performances originally planned by "Heilun" in Xiamen on June 28 and 29 were temporarily canceled, and the "pause button" was pressed on the offline tour. But on the evening of June 28, "Heilun" performed online in the live broadcast room. During the live broadcast, he interacted with fans and sang Jay Chou's songs such as "Stranded", "Qilixiang" and "Chow Hero".
Another blogger "Porridge Cake Lun" who looks similar to Jay Chou also appeared on a poster in a bar in Taiyuan. The bar introduced in previous publicity that "Porridge Cake Lun" will attend the performance event on June 21 together with "Heilun"; it will follow the footsteps of "Heilun" tour to conduct a "national cake tour", that is, "Heilun" In which city "Lun" performs, "Porridge Cake Lun" will go to that city to sell cakes. However, the subsequent performance of the two together was met with resistance and doubts from Jay Chou's fans.
It is not uncommon for imitators to stage commercial performances under the guise of celebrities. An imitator who looks very similar to singer JJ Lin has 96,000 fans on a short video platform. He has released videos singing JJ Lin's songs since May 2022, many of which were filmed by him in music bars or at some events. of. The top content of the imitator's account is the scene of him singing JJ Lin's song "Exchange the Rest of Life" at a wedding. A reporter from
noticed that most of the blogger's video content was tagged with the "JJ Lin" hashtag, and the homepage was marked with words such as "Only for commercial and performance cooperation." Through the contact information left on the homepage, the reporter contacted the other party's agent and learned that the imitator's quotation for a commercial performance at the wedding was 15,000 yuan. He could sing 4 songs and needed to bring his own audio and other equipment.
Huang Yan, a partner lawyer at Beijing Lufeng Law Firm, said that if an imitator who looks similar to a celebrity uses his or her appearance to conduct commercial activities in his own name and uses his own likeness, it will not infringe on the celebrity's portrait rights. However, if in commercial activities, the imitator performs a work protected by copyright, he must obtain the copyright owner's permission in advance and pay remuneration. Without permission, the copyright owner's performer's rights will be infringed. If the imitator not only imitates the star's unique performance style, but also intentionally misleads consumers through publicity or work packaging, causing consumers to mistakenly believe that the imitator is a real star, or distorting or vilifying imitation damages the celebrity's reputation, it will constitute infringement.
Imitate celebrities to earn rewards
Industry insiders said that previously, the monetization model of "copycat celebrities" was relatively simple. They mainly relied on participating in commercial performances, attending store ribbon-cutting events, or filming commercial advertisements to obtain income. With the advent of the short video era, live broadcast rewards provide a new way for celebrity imitators to quickly monetize.
reporters have noticed that more and more anchors are imitating celebrities in the form of live broadcasts to obtain rewards. Some netizens even posted photos of themselves on social platforms and left messages asking: "Which celebrity looks like this, suitable to imitate?"
Recently, A netizen named "Xiaotian Dog" claimed on a short video platform that he played the role of "Xiaotian Dog" in the TV series "Lotus Lantern" (2005 version), and accepted tips from the audience during the live broadcast, causing unrest. Some viewers mistakenly thought it was actor Chen Chuang himself. In response, actor Chen Chuang, who plays Roaring Dog, issued a statement saying that he will never ask fans for money, gifts or personal information through any form or channel, or contact fans to request offline meetings. At present, this netizen has deleted all works published on the homepage.
The anchor of a short video platform, "Xiao Lin Xinru" (now renamed "Xia Ziwei"), was first known for imitating the character of Ziwei in "Huan Zhu Ge Ge". During the live broadcast, she recreated the classic scene of Ziwei's blindness in the TV series, and by arousing the audience's nostalgic feelings for the classic character, she attracted the audience and gained more traffic. The anchor imitated Ziwei's blindness and cried in the live broadcast room, and said to the audience: "Unless it's a rocket or a carnival, my eyes can be cured."
When the audience in the live broadcast room sent rockets and other high-value rewards, the anchor immediately staged a restoration of his sight. drama, and excitedly told the audience: "I saw it! Oh my God!" Some netizens said: "You can restore your eyesight by brushing the carnival, which is the modern version of seeing money."
Deputy Director of Beijing Xingquan Law Firm Zhen Jingshan believes that imitators imitate celebrities to carry out live broadcasts, accept rewards during live broadcasts, and other activities. If the imitators do not clearly indicate that they are only imitators and not the celebrities themselves, then their purpose should be determined to take advantage of the celebrities’ capabilities. Due to its high popularity and influence, it misleads consumers into thinking that it is the celebrity himself and enters the live broadcast room and watches commercial performances, which is consistent with the characteristics of "commercial confusion". This situation should be regarded as unfair competition. Even some celebrity imitators deliberately mislead the public to confuse them so as to defraud red envelopes for rewards, or use the name of celebrities to undertake commercial activities to defraud, which may constitute fraud and require criminal liability.
Platforms should strengthen audits
Many interviewed experts pointed out that although imitating celebrities is a traffic password, there must be certain boundaries. If imitation is excessive, it may lead to legal risks of infringement or unfair competition.
Wang Sixin, director of the Internet Law and Intellectual Property Research Center of Communication University of China, believes that online bloggers should provide Internet users with conditions for their own judgment when imitating celebrities, and cannot use deceptive methods or rely on information asymmetry to mislead the audience; nor can they use information asymmetry to mislead the audience. Engage in illegal and disciplinary activities and spread illegal and harmful information. He suggested that platforms increase supervision and strengthen information content management based on multiple dimensions such as whether anchors engage in misleading behavior, spread vulgar content or incorrect values.
Huang Yan proposed that when imitating celebrities, one should clearly identify themselves as imitators in advance to avoid misleading the audience; avoid using unique identifying elements such as celebrity logos, catchphrases, and specific looks to avoid audience confusion; and avoid distorted imitation. , vilifying imitation, respecting and maintaining the reputation of the imitated object; the imitated content should avoid involving celebrities' private information, private activities and other privacy, or even hyping other people's scandals, and cannot break the moral boundaries.
“Citizens enjoy the personal freedom to imitate others, but this freedom should be bounded by not infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of others."Zhen Jingshan said that imitators cannot infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of others during the performance. That is to say, the imitators cannot use the name, portrait, or voice of the person being imitated, nor can they reproduce or confuse the person being imitated through technical or scientific means. The name, portrait, and voice of the imitator; if the imitator's imitation involves the performance, adaptation, etc. of other people's works, care must be taken not to infringe the copyright of the author of the performed work. Generally, the author's consent must be obtained in advance and the corresponding fee must be paid. Imitators should not distort the performance image of the person being imitated.
Zhen Jingshan suggested that the platform should combine facial recognition and other information technology means to strictly implement the user real-name management system and establish corresponding qualification certification channels for celebrities, stars, well-known enterprises, etc. Corresponding identification to prevent confusion among ordinary users; establish and improve the platform's internal review system to strengthen the review of false information, but it cannot be "one size fits all". For those who use account names and avatars that are similar or the same as those of celebrities, they should be combined with their profile, account number content, live broadcast content, etc., determine whether it is suspected of misleading the public or unfair competition, order it to make corrections, and take punitive measures such as banning and account blocking depending on the severity; establish a false information sharing mechanism, unblock complaint channels, and improve users’ Risk awareness and identification ability guide users to consume rationally.
“For imitation behavior that crosses the line, the infringed party can use legal weapons to sue the imitator, and the judicial authorities will deal with the infringer. In addition, platforms should improve technical means to strengthen the review of videos or live broadcast content uploaded by users. Once they receive infringement complaints and reports, they should promptly respond to verify and remove relevant infringing videos and other content; they should also establish a credit system to impose credit penalties on illegal anchors. . The public should also enhance their legal awareness, respect and support the rights and interests of original creators and original authors, rationally view the phenomenon of copycat celebrities instead of blindly following them, and jointly maintain an orderly and clear cyberspace. " Huang Yan said.
Source: Rule of Law Daily
