CFP
html May 21 is the Xiaoman solar term in my country, but Audi has caused public dissatisfaction because of an advertisement."The flowers have not fully bloomed and the moon is not full. I am half drunk and have spent my remaining joy. There is no need to worry about profit and loss. In the end, everything is the best." This Audi article is based on the background of a car galloping in the countryside and is narrated by artist Andy Lau "Life While the advertising video of "Xiao Man"'s life attitude was overwhelming the screen, the blogger "Peking University Man Brother" also pointed out that the copywriting department was plagiarized. He posted the "same style" video he released last year. After comparing it, many netizens ridiculed that the copy of the two videos could not be said to be purely coincidental, but that they were extremely similar and could be called "pixel-level plagiarism."
On May 22, all official Audi channels removed the video. Audi, the advertising creative agency, and Andy Lau himself all responded and expressed their apologies.
On May 25, "Beida Mange" issued a statement through social media, saying that it had reached an agreement with Audi company and advertising agency , and authorized the copywriting of Xiaoman's works for free. It is hoped that this incident will make people understand Pay more attention to original content.
"This incident has attracted attention and is conducive to raising people's awareness of intellectual property protection." Huang Ji, a researcher at the Institute of Intellectual Property of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, said in a recent interview with a reporter from " Rule of Law Daily " that the incident exposed both The weak awareness of intellectual property rights in some enterprises also reflects that in the Internet age, the risk of intellectual property infringement and will further increase. It is necessary to strengthen the awareness of intellectual property protection and curb plagiarism and infringement in the entire process of content production, release, and dissemination.
Endorsements should also raise awareness of intellectual property protection
As the Audi advertising "rollover" incident continues to ferment, some netizens discovered that the allegedly plagiarized text does not seem to be the original creation of "Peking University Mange", because as early as 2017, some netizens wrote There are similar sentences such as "If there is a minor summer, there will be a major summer, if there is a minor cold, there will be a major cold, but if there is a minor cold, there will definitely be a major cold." etc.
“Whether using other people’s content constitutes infringement, we must first see whether the content is protected by the copyright law .” In Huang Ji’s view, although the video content of “Peking University Mange” contains “there are some elements in the twenty-four solar terms” Conventional factual expressions such as Xiaoman but not Daman" also quote ancient poems, but they also include personalized interpretations and interpretations of Xiaoman's solar terms. Therefore, they constitute an original expression as a whole and are works protected by the Copyright Law. His works Both personal rights and copyright property rights should be protected.
Huang Ji further explained that copyright law protects "expression" rather than "ideas". A certain philosophy or viewpoint can be used by other authors in works, but once it is designated as a specific expression, it becomes original. , protected by copyright law. For example, pursuing the "Xiao Man" attitude towards life is a kind of "thought", but each author's personalized creation of such thoughts forms an "expression".
Although the incident has been settled, many netizens are very concerned. If the advertisement involved is determined to be infringing, will the advertising spokesperson also be held responsible?
"According to the current relevant laws on celebrity endorsements, advertising spokespersons are not allowed to endorse false advertising, and are not allowed to recommend or certify unused goods and services." Zhao Zhanhua, a special researcher at the Intellectual Property Center of China University of Political Science and Law, analyzed this case There are several key points in the article. First of all, it is difficult to find evidence that Andy Lau has never used Audi cars, and there is no problem with the quality of Audi cars. Secondly, it is difficult for Andy Lau himself to judge whether the advertisement is false advertising. More importantly, Andy Lau himself does not It is impossible to determine whether the relevant copy is plagiarized. Therefore, he believes that this incident does not constitute a direct violation of the Advertising Law, nor does it constitute a quality problem with the endorsed product. Andy Lau will not bear legal responsibility because of his status as an advertising spokesperson.
Huang Ji has a different view. He believes that under normal circumstances, spokespersons "perform" according to the scripts provided by advertising companies, and their ability to review and avoid infringement in advance is weaker than advertisers and advertising companies.However, the spokesperson in this incident is a well-known artist, who usually has a strong and professional management team to arrange endorsement activities. In fact, he is also capable enough to discover that other people's copyrighted content is used in advertisements. Corresponding measures should be taken to prevent and eliminate the risk of infringement. If corresponding measures are not taken, part of the responsibility should also be borne. Therefore, this incident has also sounded the alarm for celebrity endorsements. In addition to endorsing products, celebrity endorsers and their teams should also fulfill the necessary review obligations to improve their awareness of intellectual property protection as to whether the advertising content is original.
Layers of advertising outsourcing may lead to a lack of regulatory review
Out of professional sensitivity, Li Zhi, who has been in the advertising industry for more than ten years, immediately learned that this advertisement was suspected of plagiarism, and felt that it was another advertisement. Outsourcing is the “trouble”. Audi's official response also mentioned that the video in question was reported and executed by a creative agency.
"It is very common for brands to outsource their advertising business." Li Zhi revealed that for reasons such as professionalism and reducing personnel costs, most brands now do not "raise" their own advertising teams, but choose to outsource their advertising business. , planned and produced by a professional advertising agency.
Li Zhi said frankly that the biggest problem in the current industry is the layers of outsourcing. He gave an example, such as an advertising agency relying on its popularity in the industry to reach a cooperation with a certain brand. After that, the company outsourced creative planning, copywriting and other work to other companies, and the outsourcing company was responsible for finding directors to carry out advertisements. Shooting, this can not only save production costs, but also earn the difference. Since brands and advertising agencies often do not agree separately when signing contracts that they are not allowed to outsource part of their business to other companies, outsourcing has almost become a common practice in the current industry.
"Before the advertisement is finally produced, the process must be reviewed at all levels, and online and offline information will be collected and compared." In Li Zhi's view, this incident exposed many problems of outsourcing at all levels. On the one hand, Under outsourcing, you will inevitably face layers of "drainage", and the copywriting costs left for the core part of advertising creativity will continue to be compressed, leading to low-cost production and even direct plagiarism. On the other hand, layer-by-layer outsourcing involves too many entities and complicated links, making communication and review more difficult. It is also prone to problems such as lack of layer-by-layer review and "loss of supervision".
Deputy Director of the Communication Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law Zhu Wei pointed out that although advertising outsourcing is not illegal, once there is a problem in a certain link, the advertising agency will not only have to bear huge responsibilities, but will also suffer a loss of reputation. He suggested that advertisers, advertising producers, and advertising publishing platforms should establish an awareness of protecting originality and establish a strict review system. To address the issue of layers of outsourcing, relevant responsibilities can also be clarified when signing contracts.
Affected by this incident, on May 23, the Comprehensive Agency Professional Committee of the China Business Advertising Association issued an action initiative for intellectual property protection and planned to invite lawyers to provide training for industry insiders on legal regulations in advertising, intellectual property, and trademarks.
Internet technology provides convenience but also induces risks.
After one wave of unrest comes another, an advertisement for Honda Motor has become "troublesome" again.
On May 22, Ning Yuan, founder of the Chengdu Yuanjia brand, issued an article questioning whether a car advertising creative of Dongfeng Honda car "stole" his life. Ning Yuan said that the entrepreneurial story of the heroine in the advertising video is highly consistent with her own life experience in Mingyue Village , and without informing her of the commercial shooting, she used the office space of her brand to shoot and use it for commercial purposes. advertise. At present, the advertising photographer has removed the relevant advertising video.
Regarding this incident, Zhu Wei analyzed that advertising creative ideas that are the same or similar to other people’s real experiences do not necessarily constitute infringement. However, in this incident, the filming office was not informed that it was a commercial shooting, which may constitute infringement of the office. Infringement of copyright on the furnishings, layout, decoration, etc. of the place. If these decorations are original, they constitute works of art and are protected by copyright law.
"No matter how good a team is, there are times when creative inspiration is insufficient. Borrowing ideas is almost a common practice in the advertising field." Li Zhi believes that how to grasp the legal boundaries between borrowing and plagiarism is a question that advertisers need to think about.
"The distinction between reasonable borrowing and plagiarism is legally a matter of distinguishing infringement and fair use." Huang Ji pointed out that whether using other people's works constitutes fair use, two factors must be considered: First, it depends on the "conversion of the behavior" The degree of "sexuality", that is, whether the actor adds new content, perspective, and ideas when using other people's works, and presents new values and functions; the second is to look at the impact of the use behavior on the market value of other people's works. If the "conversion nature" "The degree is relatively high and the impact on the market value of other people's works is small, and it can usually constitute fair use. Otherwise, it may be infringement.
In Huang Ji’s view, in the new media era, the processing, reorganization, and dissemination of information have become more frequent and widespread, and the risk of copyright infringement will also increase. However, Internet technology is also more conducive to providing support for finding evidence and proving rights. Once an infringement is discovered, the rights holder should promptly fix the infringement evidence and seek legal remedies .
Zhu Wei also reminded that according to the Copyright Law and Civil Code and other legal provisions, once the author finds that his work has been infringed, he can send a deletion notice to the relevant platform and request the platform to remove the relevant infringing video. The rights holder has the right to notify the platform to take necessary measures such as deletion, blocking, disconnection, etc. The platform shall bear joint and several liability if it fails to take necessary measures in a timely manner after receiving the notification.
Source: Rule of Law Daily
