E-commerce sells low-cost suits "beauty photos cheat"

  Lawyer: Unauthorized collection of other people’s photos for sale constitutes infringement

  At the end of August, a 19-year-old college student online dating beauty game anchor spent 3.18 million, and found that the "goddess" in his mind actually weighed nearly 200 kilograms.

In order to attract men to chat and give tips, the female anchor Huang used the "beautiful photos" purchased online as her profile picture and profile.

Currently, Huang has been criminally detained by Yiwu police in accordance with the law on suspicion of fraud.

A reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily found that on an e-commerce platform, some merchants knew that selling other people's photos might face legal risks and were still soliciting business at low prices.

The lawyer stated that the unauthorized collection of other people's photos for sale by the merchants may constitute infringement.

  On an e-commerce platform, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily searched through keywords and found that no less than 20 stores were selling photos of real women, including photo sets with names of people, and the prices ranged from 0.99 yuan to 30 yuan.

In one of the stores with the highest sales volume, more than 400 people paid for a single copy of the "High-definition Resource Photo Collection".

The other products in the shop are also a collection of the same beauty photos.

  According to another store that sells photos, the purchased photos can be used to create a circle of friends, play with games and other character packaging needs, and can provide materials of different ages, different styles, and even at home and abroad.

  A reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily randomly consulted 5 shops and found that a set of so-called materials is about 100 to 800, which will be automatically shipped when photographed, and some will be accompanied by a video, a download link will be provided, and it will be automatically updated after purchase.

The shop owner said that these pictures are all real people and have no copyright. They also posted a disclaimer on the product page stating, “This shop is not legally responsible for the copyright issues involved. The price of the product does not represent the value of the material itself, but is collected and sorted by the owner. Labor costs."

  Some businesses said that the people in the pictures are people with hundreds of thousands of fans. "It's okay to use it on a small scale, but don't post it on the platform. Many people will use it for their own avatars or make personal packaging when playing games. "Although the disclaimer claimed to be "obtained through legal channels such as the Internet," they did not disclose the exact method.

  According to platform staff, merchants are not recommended to sell portraits or selfies with other people's portraits due to suspected infringement.

“If the parties find that there are photos of themselves in these materials, they can initiate a complaint through the platform process, and they will be removed after verification.” Another staff member said that the photos or posters of public figures such as authorized Internet celebrities or celebrities Can be sold.

This group of articles/Reporter Bai Long Coordinator/Song Xia

  Ask

  What legal issues are involved in selling photos of others

  What legal issues are involved in the seller’s selling of other people’s photos? Is the disclaimer valid?

How to determine responsibility for someone buying these photos for fraud?

  In this regard, Kong Jiao, a lawyer at Shandong Chenggong Law Firm, stated that the behavior of merchants collecting photos of others for sale constitutes infringement. The disclaimer issued by him violates the mandatory provisions of the law. According to the 143rd of the Civil Code The provisions of the article are invalid from a legal point of view, and they still need to bear legal responsibility for the losses they have caused to the right holder.

The act of selling other people’s photos infringes on the portrait rights of others. According to Article 1919 of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China, no organization or individual may deface, deface, or use information technology for forgery. Violate the portrait rights of others.

Without the consent of the right holder, the portrait of the right holder may not be produced, used, or published, except as otherwise provided by law.

The seller needs to bear the corresponding infringement liability, including stopping the infringement, eliminating the impact, apologizing and compensation for damages.

  Kong Jiao pointed out that the determination of commercial use mainly depends on whether the actor has a profit-making purpose. If the actor obtains photos of others for sale or other civil activities to earn economic benefits, it may be defined as commercial use in accordance with the law.

"If the purchaser purchases photos to commit fraud, which constitutes a crime, the purchaser must of course bear criminal responsibility."

  In addition, when the seller is unaware of the buyer’s purchase intention and has no intention to commit a joint crime during the sale, it is difficult for the victim to ask the seller to be held criminally liable, but the seller can still be required to bear civil compensation on the grounds of infringement of portrait rights. responsibility.