As an actor, perhaps his greatest recognition is that the characters he creates are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. However, there are also many cases in the entertainment industry where the characters are popular but the actors are not. For example, everyone may not be familiar with the actor Wang Weiguo, but his performance of the Jade Emperor will have a specific image in everyone's mind.
This is recognition of actors, but when this recognition extends to portrait infringement, it makes people uncomfortable. Wouldn't it be even more pitiful if one's face was printed on a ghost coin for a long time and he wanted to protect his rights but didn't know who to accuse?
1. "Jade Emperor" professional Wang Weiguo
Speaking of the "Jade Emperor", the supreme leader of Chinese Taoism, the common people's image of him is the Jade Emperor in the TV series "Journey to the West" aired in 2000. He plays this The actor playing the role is Wang Weiguo, a national first-class actor. Although Wang Weiguo has also played other different roles, the most impressive one is always the "Jade Emperor". even makes people think that the Jade Emperor is like this.
Before "Journey to the West", the people actually did not have a unified and specific image of the Jade Emperor. But after "Journey to the West", Wang Weiguo's Jade Emperor became the only one in people's hearts.
It is precisely because of this popular success that Wang Weiguo later starred in the Jade Emperor in other film and television dramas many times. Wang Weiguo's version of the Jade Emperor became more popular among the people. Many film and television dramas involving the Jade Emperor also invited Wang Weiguo to participate. . Such as: Lotus Lantern, New White Snake Legend ( Ju Jingyi version)
2. The image appears on the underworld coin
realized that the image of the Jade Emperor he played was printed on the underworld coin, and it was Wang Weiguo who returned to his hometown to worship his ancestors. I discovered it by accident. If is a general infringement of portrait rights, it may be dealt with accordingly. Then the initiator will be found and ordered to cancel the use of portrait rights, and the matter will be over. But anyone who knows that their portrait is printed on the underworld coin as a sacrifice will feel uncomfortable and unbearable.
As we all know, Ming coins are one of the sacrifices spread among the people and used to burn during sacrifices. It is a kind of custom. Although it has a long origin, it was classified as a feudal superstitious behavior and banned as early as the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The practice of burning ghost coins has also been widely banned, but it is still very common in many rural areas.
And the Ming coins have also been continuously improved. From paper money without any pattern to the Ming coins with "Jade Emperor" printed on them, they have also been affected by changes in people's concepts. In addition to the numerical representation of the face value, the image of the "Jade Emperor" is more in line with people's psychological expectations. Merchants value profits and see business opportunities. It is not surprising that the Jade Emperor version of the underworld coin appears.
3. The issue of actor portrait infringement
printed Wang Weiguo’s image on the coin without his consent, which is an infringement in itself. This kind of artistic image is inseparable from the actor. In addition, the difference between his own image and the character is not big, so the unique appearance and other characteristics of the portrait are protected by law.
Obviously, printing the image of the Jade Emperor played by Wang Weiguo on the underworld coins and then selling it is a profit-making business practice. did this without consent or payment, which is a typical infringement of portrait rights. Among them, the printing factory and the businessman who originally provided the portrait are all infringing parties.
’s infringement is obvious, but Wang Weiguo’s road to safeguarding his rights is not smooth. After discovered this incident, they started to protect their rights. After all, this was a loss both in terms of reputation and economy. The most important thing is that the psychological impact was more serious.After all, it is difficult for ordinary people to accept their own images being printed on ghost coins, and they have to go through the process of offering sacrifices and burning them.
Therefore, Wang Weiguo reported this matter to the relevant departments, hoping to safeguard his rights and interests. Wang Weiguo's request was to stop and prohibit subsequent printing activities. However, after investigation, it was found that this kind of ghost coins printed with the image of Wang Weiguo have been distributed across the country. There are many companies that can print them, and it is almost impossible to find the source.
Moreover, this kind of default behavior among the people is difficult to change once the setting is accepted by the public, and this default will become a conventional consensus. and printing is not a high-tech industry now, and the requirements for paper money are not very high. Almost any small workshop can mass-produce it and then distribute it to various places. If you want to trace the source or ban it completely , it’s really too difficult.
Conclusion
Therefore, even if he knows that his portrait rights have been infringed, he can still find production products, and he is willing to sue others, but Wang Weiguo still has not been able to protect his rights and interests. After all, the actual situation of is that it is difficult to protect rights, and it takes a lot of energy to operate but the effect is not ideal.
Wang Weiguo also explained this matter in a column: Although has always wanted to defend his rights, because he could not identify the actual personnel, the specific rights protection was in trouble and it was difficult to continue.
Finally, I would like to ask you, do you think it is necessary to hold accountable Wang Weiguo for his infringement of actor's image rights? Who do you think is responsible?
