The painter suffered the embarrassment of "original evidence" rights protection
Lawyers: It can be proved by documents such as manuscripts and originals of relevant works
When some painters shared their works on social platforms, they found that their paintings were printed and sold by merchants on the e-commerce platform.
The creators have encountered embarrassment in defending their rights. They negotiated with merchants and were asked to provide "original evidence".
Find the platform to complain, and there is no option to deal with piracy.
The complaint area related to "intellectual property" is limited to photographic works, and it is also required to upload intellectual property materials.
In the face of infringement, how should the creator of the painting protect his rights?
event
The artist's work was pirated by the merchant
Derivatives are sold online
Painter Lulu told a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily that she likes to look for inspiration through some Q-version characters in games to create, and then put it on social platforms for netizens to watch.
In September of this year, she released a number of works, which attracted a lot of hits.
It didn't take long for fans to send private messages to the platform saying that "your paintings have been stolen and printed by merchants on the online shopping platform".
After searching, she saw on an e-commerce platform that 9 of her paintings were stolen and printed on the driving case.
The painter Xiaobai and Lulu have the same experience.
Since August 15 this year, Xiaobai has shared his original paintings on social platforms.
On September 6, she discovered that five of her works had been printed on the phone case by the merchant without her authorization.
Including Lulu and Xiaobai, many creators interviewed by Beiqing Daily reporters said that the purpose of publishing their works is only for viewing and does not authorize commercial use.
Unexpectedly, it will be printed on mobile phone cases, stickers, badges and other products without knowing it, and sold on e-commerce platforms at prices ranging from 10 to 40 yuan.
A reporter from the Beiqing Daily found that there were 2.971 million page views and nearly 4,000 discussions on Weibo topics related to "piracy" and "piracy".
There are also 384,000 views of posts with the labels of "piracy" and "piracy" on some social apps, with a total of 70+ posts.
rights protection
Businesses avoid rights protection questions
Avoid the heavy and lightly divert the topic
Lulu said that she sent a private message to the merchant of the screenshot of the interface released by the painting and asked, "Did you draw the work yourself", but the merchant ignored the question and simply recommended the product.
When Lulu made it clear that he was the artist himself, the merchant replied, "Then you are very good, and we have no royalties here."
Regarding Lulu's request for removal from the shelves, the merchant said that it had been transferred to after-sales processing.
But until the next day, the merchant did not arrange for after-sales personnel to deal with this matter.
Lulu said that there was more than one merchant who pirated her paintings. When they asked multiple merchants to deal with it, the response they got was either asking the boss or diverting the topic.
In desperation, Lulu decided to complain to the platform, but there was no special option on the relevant interface to deal with piracy, so he had to choose the option of "prohibited goods".
"Up to now, the pirated merchants have taken the product off the shelves, but I don't think I have succeeded in defending my rights, because Taobao has not given me a second feedback. If there is a result of the complaint, the official will also give me feedback. I guess It was taken off the shelves because there was no sales.”
Xiaobai told the Beiqing Daily reporter that when he went to confront the seller, the other party justly asked for "original evidence".
But after sending it, it keeps showing the message as unread.
Xiaobai and Lulu also found a platform to complain. This platform also did not have a special option to deal with piracy, and chose the complaint item of "selling fake and shoddy goods", but did not get a response.
Xiaobai, who was originally busy with work, obeyed the advice of his family and gave up defending his rights.
But on October 6, she found another pirated shop and stole a total of 6 copies.
complaint
The author complained to the e-commerce platform
Requested to provide original evidence
Unlike Lulu and Xiaobai, Lele and Youyou also tried to file complaints through the e-commerce platform's "Intellectual Property Protection Platform".
On October 18, Youyou learned through fans that her paintings about the game "Yuanshen" released on July 21, 24, 27, 30 and August 4, 10, and 17 were stolen by merchants. , "These paintings took a total of about 80 hours to complete, and they were published on social platforms for viewing only, and commercial use is not authorized." Youyou said that he clearly informed the merchants that "I have not authorized any commercial use, please take it off the shelves immediately". After that, the other party only replied with a "hmm" emoticon package, and then there is no more text, and after sending a message, it will display "I can't read it back".
Keyouyou complained through the "Intellectual Property Protection Platform" and also encountered difficulties.
This page is for photography only, and requires a "model image" and a "telephoto set".
Youyou still tried to put the stolen works on the platform for appeal, and uploaded the drawing process map.
However, the platform refused to accept it on the grounds that "the picture you submitted is not completely the original picture, please resubmit all the proof pictures of the original picture directly exported from the camera".
This makes Youyou very distressed. There are no models and goods in electronic painting works, and there will be no pictures taken by cameras.
In addition, several e-commerce platforms require the uploading of intellectual property materials before a complaint can be made.
Both Lele and Youyou said, "Many paintings are drawn by the artist out of interest, and they did not expect to be stolen by merchants. It is impossible to register the copyright of each painting. If the copyright of each painting is registered, the cost will also be very high."
focus
Difficulties encountered when reviewing unclear rights
Platforms should improve complaint channels
Zhao Jingpu, a lawyer from Beijing Dacheng Law Firm, told the Beiqing Daily reporter that, from the perspective of the creation of copyright, the copyright of a work of art is automatically generated from the day the work is created, and my country implements a copyright resource registration system, so no matter whether the work is published or not Registration, the author's copyright acquisition will not be affected.
However, from the perspective of copyright protection, when the author's rights are violated, the "work registration certificate" is the most direct and powerful evidence to prove the ownership of the right holder.
Therefore, works without rights registration are still protected by law, but obtaining a rights certificate can greatly reduce the difficulty of rights protection for authors.
Regarding the platform's "inaction", Zhao Jingpu said that if the sales platform does not know that the products it sells are infringing products or that it has fulfilled its reasonable review obligations for the merchant's related products, it should assume no-fault responsibility such as stopping the infringement.
In addition, the platform should set up and improve the complaint channels for rights holders' objections, so as to detect infringements in a timely manner.
"From the current actual situation, it is necessary for the creator to prove that they are the copyright owner. They can prove it through the manuscripts, originals, legal publications and other documents of the relevant works." Zhao Jingpu pointed out that the merchants do not have the author's consent or authorization. The use of its art works for profit constitutes copyright infringement. Combined with the specific infringement, it may bear civil liabilities such as stopping the infringement, eliminating the impact, making an apology and compensating for losses; the amount of illegal income for the purpose of profit is relatively large or there are other serious circumstances or illegal income. If the amount is huge or there are other particularly serious circumstances, they may also bear corresponding fines, fixed-term imprisonment and other criminal liabilities.
(All parties in the text are pseudonyms)
Text/intern reporter Long Shuaihong
Our reporter Song Xia
Coordination / Yu Meiying