The work has been authorized by Taiwan Universal Music to be used by many units. Musician Wu Xiangfei has declared that he will be held accountable for
11 songs that were "taken away".
As a well-known musician, his music works are definitely his most important asset.
The lyricist Wu Xiangfei recently discovered by accident that the copyright of more than a dozen of his songs had been "secretly occupied" by Taiwan Universal Copyright Corporation for several years.
On May 12th, Wu Xiangfei, the musician who wrote classics such as "Metro to Spring" and "The Road, Always Be", issued a statement on Weibo, saying that Taiwan Universal Music's copyright is privately acting as the copyright manager and authorized many units to use it. He enjoys 11 works of music copyright, which seriously infringes his music copyright.
Wu Xiangfei expressed the hope that through this vocalization, the rights and interests of mainland musicians can be paid attention to and protected, so that respect for original musicians is no longer an empty talk.
The industry believes that some international music copyright companies lack respect for mainland songwriters and music platforms.
Only by cutting off the illegal authorization and wanton infringement can the musicians' creations be more valuable.
Legal experts suggest that the right holders should review and update the authorization status of their own works in a timely manner. If they discover infringements, they can choose to use appropriate channels to claim their rights from the infringing party and protect their legitimate rights and interests.
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11 songs "taken away"
Taiwan Universal says "the contract is lost"
In an interview with a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily on the 13th, Wu Xiangfei said that in March this year, he originally wanted to hand over the songs he created to a company for unified management. When sorting out the catalog of works, he accidentally discovered that more than a dozen works he had created were actually taken by Taiwan. Global copyrights are registered under his company's name, including Eason Chan's "The Road Is Always On", "7", "Smelly Beauty", "Lonely Animals", "Hippie", Elva Hsiao "Not Far", Yang Zongwei "Who Will Change Me", Chen Kun "Light Melancholy" "11 songs.
Then Wu Xiangfei contacted the copyright manager of Universal Music Taiwan.
The other party replied: Everyone has signed relevant contracts. In recent years, the company failed to pay royalties because it did not have Wu Xiangfei's English bank account and ID information.
"There is my WeChat and email address on Global, and you can find me at any time, but they did not find me.
Wu Xiangfei also discovered that Taiwan Universal's copyright claims to the outside world that it owns the copyright of the lyrics and music of these songs, and has charged several major domestic music players such as Tencent QQ Music and NetEase Cloud Music with fees for the use of lyrics and music for related music works for several years.
During this period, as the author and copyright owner, Wu Xiangfei did not receive any royalties.
Wu Xiangfei said that during the communication process, Ms. Ma, the head of Taiwan Universal's copyright, claimed that even if Taiwan Universal could not come up with a contract, it did not mean that the two parties had not signed this contract.
As for when the contract was signed and why it was not available, Universal explained: "The contract is lost."
Wu Xiangfei's attitude is very clear: "The law first depends on the contract. Taiwan Universal has repeatedly said that it is the manager of these songs. Where is the contract? Where is the evidence?" He also said: "If the global contract is lost, if the global authorization is legal. In view of the practice of international copyright companies to settle royalties twice a year, in the 13 years of external authorization, Universal should have more than 20 evidence of remittances to me, more than 20 evidence of my signing of royalties, and a paper contract between us . But these, Universal still can’t get them out.”
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Taiwan Universal has revoked the right to claim the work
Willing to refund the copyright fee
After the incident, there were two details about Universal that made Wu Xiangfei feel very abnormal: First, after discovering that the works were infringed by Universal, he immediately requested Universal to revoke the claim to these works.
The next day, Universal affirmed to Taiwan's copyright management organization that Universal does not have the right to manage these works.
"If Universal is the legal manager of these works, why did he immediately indicate that he no longer claims these songs after I made a request?"
Second, Ms. Ma, the person in charge of Universal's copyright, stated to Wu Xiangfei via e-mail that Universal is willing to refund the part of the money they have collected over the years.
"I immediately rejected Universal's proposal, and said that the nature of the matter now is not a non-refundable matter. If it is not discovered by me, will Universal refund the money? If Universal legally owns these works, why did it take the initiative? Give me a refund?"
A reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily contacted Ms. Ma, the head of Taiwan's global copyright, but as of press time, the other party has not responded.
As for music platforms such as Netease and Tencent, there has been no response.
However, Wu Xiangfei revealed that Tencent and Taiwan Global have already started to negotiate a settlement on this matter.
Wu Xiangfei said that this incident also allowed him to see loopholes and lack of work in copyright review of domestic music platforms.
“Platforms such as NetEase Cloud Music and QQ Music have placed music works that have not been legally authorized by the songwriter on the platform for dissemination and commercial use, which infringes the rights of the authors. I believe that the platform party did not intentionally infringe the rights of the songwriter. They It is also a victim. This incident has sounded a wake-up call for domestic players and music platforms."
In the statement, Wu Xiangfei requested: related music platforms to remove these works; Taiwan Universal apologized publicly and made compensation; and platforms such as NetEase Cloud Music and QQ Music should pay royalties.
"I have dealt with international music copyright companies for many years. I worked with BMG, one of the world's five largest copyright companies at the time, in 1998. In recent years, some international copyright companies have been very high-profile, and they don’t seem to realize it. , Songwriters rely less and less on copyright companies.” Wu Xiangfei said, he did not expect that his works would be infringed arbitrarily after 20 years of publishing, and the other party is still a well-known copyright company. “I hope that major music players and music use platforms, Do a good job of copyright review, so that respect for original musicians is no longer an empty talk."
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There are loopholes in the platform copyright review
The new "Copyright Law" can be expected
Industry insiders believe that Wu Xiangfei’s experience is definitely not a case, and certain “immoral” actions of copyright companies should be exposed, and only by cutting off illegal authorization and wanton infringement black hands can truly make the creation of musicians more valuable.
According to Lawyer He Xiaoming from Beijing Shanggong Law Firm, in order to facilitate the exercise of rights by individual music creators, the "Regulations on Copyright Collective Management" stipulates that copyright collective management organizations can be authorized by the right owner to collectively exercise the relevant rights of the right owner and use the rights of the right owner. Rights protection in the name of
In response to the lack of transparency in the collection of royalties and the distribution of copyright fees in the actual operation process, Article 8 of the new "Copyright Law" that came into effect on June 1 this year stipulates: "Copyright collective management organizations shall collect and transfer royalties. , The withdrawal and use of management fees, and the unallocated portion of the use fees are regularly announced to the public, and a rights information query system should be established for rights holders and users to inquire." Attorney He Xiaoming also suggested that rights holders should sort out in time Update the authorization status of your own work, and be aware of it.
When an infringement is discovered, the evidence must first be fixed in time. At the same time, it can send infringement notices, and require the infringing party to take measures such as deleting, blocking, disconnecting, and delisting to claim rights to the infringing party. You can also file a complaint with the copyright administration department. Send a lawyer’s letter, and even file a lawsuit, to protect your legal rights and interests.
Text/Reporter Shou Penghuan Coordinating/Liu Jianghua