Nowadays, "celebrity endorsement" and "celebrity recommendation" are one of the magic weapons for businesses to increase sales. However, using celebrity portraits to gain popularity or attract traffic without the celebrity’s authorization will constitute infringement.
Recently, well-known actress and director Jia Ling successfully sued a black coffee manufacturer, and received a compensation of 100,000 yuan.
Various brands claiming to be "Jia Ling's brand" infringe on Jia Ling's portrait rights
Use infringing boxing photos on black coffee
Jia Ling sues for compensation of 300,000
In February 2024, a movie directed and starring Jia Ling "Hot and Spicy" was released in mainland China. Her inspirational weight loss story in the movie inspired many beauty lovers. Subsequently, a group of merchants under the banner of "Jia Ling's Same Style" used Jia Ling's image for advertising without her consent.
In "Hot and Spicy", Jia Ling's inspirational spirit of losing 100 pounds infected many viewers.
Jia Ling complained that in April 2024, she discovered that Anhui XX Health Industry Development Co., Ltd. printed her portrait on the packaging of the company's "Ms. Jia Black Coffee" without consent. " The defendant misled the public and created the illusion that the plaintiff was endorsing him to make profits. The plaintiff, as a well-known entertainer, has a certain commercial value in her portrait."
Jia Ling said that the defendant used the value of her portrait to attract users to spend money. , and then obtain commercial benefits, but it is based on damaging her licensing rights and damaging her portrait rights. This behavior of has seriously violated her legitimate rights and interests.
Accordingly, Jia Ling filed a lawsuit in court, demanding that Anhui XX Health Industry Development Co., Ltd. stop infringement (including but not limited to deleting relevant promotional pages, destroying infringing materials, etc.); publish an apology in the newspaper; compensate for economic losses and reasonably safeguard rights. The total cost is 300,000 yuan.
Court: Stop infringement
Compensate for 100,000 yuan in economic losses
Anhui Health Industry Development Co., Ltd. argued that it disagreed with Jia Ling’s lawsuit request because her company only produced 5,000 boxes, which were provided by a business company in Xiamen packaging box, "Our company did not identify it as Jia Ling during the review."
The court found that Anhui Health Industry Development Co., Ltd. was a manufacturer of "Ms. Jia IM Black Coffee" and the it produced The outer packaging of "Ms. Jia TM Black Coffee" features a cartoon image of Jia Ling boxing in a prominent position. The "Ms. Jia TM Black Coffee" is sold on all major e-commerce platforms.
The court held that a portrait is the reproduction of a natural person's appearance on a material carrier. The connotation of a portrait emphasizes the recognizability of a natural person's facial image. As for the material carrier and means of portrait reproduction, it does not affect the natural person's face that exists in a certain form. The image belongs to the category of portrait. As long as the cartoon reflects a recognizable image of a natural person, the cartoon image can fall under the category of portrait concept and thus become the object of protection of portrait rights under my country's laws.
Natural persons enjoy the right of portrait. Without the consent of the holder of the portrait right, the portrait of the holder of the portrait right may not be produced, used or disclosed. In this case, the defendant company used a cartoon image of Jia Ling's boxing scene on the outer packaging of its "Ms. Jia TM Black Coffee", which can reflect the identifiable image of Jia Ling. This use was made without Jia Ling's consent. , infringing Jia Ling’s portrait rights.
The court held that as a well-known actor and director in my country, Jia Ling’s portrait has certain commercial value. The defendant’s infringement of her portrait rights will inevitably lead to the damage to the economic interests contained in her portrait rights, and at the same time, it will easily make the public think the plaintiff Brand endorsement relationship with the goods produced by the defendant. Since both parties failed to provide evidence to prove the actual losses suffered by the infringement or the benefits obtained by the defendant due to the infringement involved, the court took into account factors such as the commercial value of the plaintiff’s brand endorsement, the cost of rights protection, the defendant’s degree of fault, purpose, method, duration, and ability to compensate. , determined that the defendant should compensate for economic losses of 100,000 yuan .
Accordingly, the Qiaocheng District Court ruled that Anhui XX Health Industry Development Co., Ltd. should stop infringement, not reproduce products that infringe on Jia Ling’s portrait rights, publicly apologize to Jia Ling, and compensate Jia Ling for economic losses of 100,000 yuan.
In response, netizens expressed their support:
supports Jia Ling’s rights protection!
Merchants are using the popularity to sell products
Citizens should not be deceived
It is understood that after the movie "Hot and Spicy" was released, many merchants took advantage of the popularity and used it on product packaging. Jia Ling's classic pose holding up her boxing gloves in "Hot and Furious" was cartoonized and used as a promotional advertisement. The reporter's search found that there are still many such situations on e-commerce platforms.
In April this year, Beijing Dawan Entertainment Culture Media Co., Ltd. issued a statement stating that it was discovered that unscrupulous merchants had used the artist Jia Ling’s portrait without permission, falsely claiming that the artist endorsed or cooperated with their brands or products, which was misleading. The public believes that there is a cooperative relationship between the brand or product and the artist. In response to the above situation, the company solemnly declares: any endorsement and cooperation by that is not announced through official channels is false information, and the company has entrusted a lawyer to defend its rights in accordance with the law. Consumers are advised to be careful and avoid being deceived.
On April 16 this year, the official Weibo of the movie "Hot and Spicy" posted a number of anti-counterfeiting pictures, including Jia Ling's "Hot and Spicy" short sleeves, Jia Ling's same slimming black coffee and other products. The film side claimed that director Jia Ling and the movie "Hot and Spicy" have never endorsed or authorized any fat-reducing or sugar-free drinks, food, medicines, cards, beauty and body care institutions, etc., and reminded netizens not to be deceived.
Source: Guangzhou Daily WeChat account
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