After The Exclusive Copyright War, The War Between Netease Cloud Music And Tencent Music Rekindled. Recently, Netease Cloud Music Sued Tencent Music For "infringing Copyright And Constituting Unfair Competition". Can Netease Cloud Music Win This Battle On April 27, Netease Cloud Music Released A Statement To Sue Tencent Music For Unfair Competition. The Statement Said That Netease Cloud Music Has Officially Filed A Lawsuit Against Some Unfair Competition Of Tencent Music Entertainment Group (including QQ Music, KuWo Music, Kugou Music And Other Products).
A Resurgence Of Copyright
Netease Cloud Music Said In A Statement: "for A Long Time, Tencent Music And Entertainment Group (including QQ Music, KuWo Music, Kugou Music, National Karaoke And Other Products) Has Infringed Our Copyright And Constituted Unfair Competition By Illegally Broadcasting And Playing Unlicensed Songs, Mass Impersonating And Washing Songs, Following Plagiarizing Our Product Innovation, Evading Or Even Resisting Supervision."
Why Did Netease Cloud Music Initiate A Lawsuit At This Time? As Of Press Time, The Reporter Of China Business Daily Has Not Received A Reply From The Company. In Terms Of Tencent Music, It Only Forwarded A Reply From Chen Mo, Head Of Tencent Music Brand Public Relations, In The Circle Of Friends To The Reporter Of China Business Daily, But Has Not Made A Formal Response.
After All, We Believe That Those Who Have No Real Evidence To Help The Development Of The Music Industry Will Not Continue To Fight With The Music Industry. After All, We Have No Real Evidence To Support The Development Of The Music Industry, And We Will Not Continue To Fight With Those Who Have No Real Love For The Music Industry
At The Same Time, Chen Mo Pointed Out In The Accompanying Picture Of This Circle Of Friends That "Netease Cloud Music Was Sentenced To Compensation Of 850000 Yuan For Packaging And Selling Jay Chou's Songs", "Netease Cloud Repeatedly Infringed The Cool Dog Hot Song" Flowers All The Way "and" Cool Dog's Listening Patent And Music Promotion Patent Were Applied For In 2015 ".
However, An Insider Told China Business Daily: "the Reply Of Tencent Music Actually Turned Over A Pile Of Old Accounts And Didn't Answer The Question Positively."
Will Netease Cloud Concert Win
In The Statement, Netease Cloud Music Said: "QQ Music Under Tencent Music Entertainment Group Has Repeatedly Been On The Shelves Of Our Popular Works Without Authorization. After We Mentioned Rights Protection, QQ Music Targeted Only Relevant Works Off The Shelves In Our Daily Monitoring Areas Such As Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou And Hangzhou. However, It Continues To Be Illegally Broadcast And Released In Other Areas With Weak Monitoring And Rights Protection Ability, Deliberately Avoiding Our Rights Protection."
"For The Dissemination Of Music Works In The Information Network, The Disseminator Needs To Obtain The Corresponding Authorization, And The Provisions On The Authorized Content Are Also Very Detailed, Including Geographical Area, Time, Playing Mode, Etc. Playing Without The Corresponding Authorization Belongs To Stealing Broadcasting, Which Is An Act Of Infringement Of Copyright." Hu Gang, Deputy Secretary General Of The Legal Work Committee Of China Internet Association, Told China Business Daily, "in Order To Evade The Protection Measures Of Obligees, Regional Rotation, Time Rotation Or Broadcasting For Specific Users Are Copyright Infringement Or Unfair Competition On The Network By Using Technical Means. If The Facts Are Established, It Is An Infringement Of Copyright."
In Addition To Stealing Broadcasting And Playing, Netease Cloud Music Said That For Unauthorized Songs, QQ Music Developed The Function Of Copying The Link Of Its Platform Song List And Then Importing It, So As To Realize The Replay And Download Of Songs That Cannot Be Played With Gray In The Original Song List.
Hu Gang Believes That The Civil Code Stipulates That If The Network Service Provider Knows Or Should Know That The User Infringes Upon The Legitimate Rights And Interests Of Others And Fails To Take Necessary Measures, It Shall Bear Joint And Several Tort Liability With The User. This May Also Involve "deep Link" Infringement.
In The Statement, Netease Cloud Music Also Said: "for A Long Time, Tencent Music's QQ Music, Kugou Music And KuWo Music Have Made A Large Number Of Fake And Song Washing Works For Unauthorized Works, Misleading Users To Play."
Hu Gang Said That According To The Provisions Of The Civil Code, The Right Of Name Is Protected By Law. The Same And Confusing Acts Caused By The Random Imitation Of Singers' Stage Names Or Online Names Are Suspected Of Violating The Right Of Name. In The Case Of Strong Originality Of Song Names, Song Names Can Constitute Written Works In The Sense Of Copyright Law. The Reproduction Or Counterfeiting Of Song Names Is Suspected Of Infringing The Copyright Of Written Works. The Chorus And Other Parts In The Music Constitute A Separate Music Work Or Piece Of Work. Aiming At Its Same, Similar And Confusing Behavior, It Constitutes An Infringement Of The Copyright Of The Music Work.
"However, The Above Rights Are The Rights Of Relevant Song Creators And Singers. If The Music Platform Sues Not On Behalf Of Creators And Singers, But In Its Own Name, It Needs To Be Grasped As A Whole. For Example, There Are A Large Number Of Infringement Cases And A Very Medium Set Of Infringement Acts." Hu Gang Said.
In Addition, Netease Cloud Music Also Said That Tencent Music Has Long Plagiarized The Visual Design, Product Functions And Innovative Mechanism Of Netease Cloud Music, Such As QQ Music, Cool Dog Music And KuWo Music, Plagiarizing The Design Of Netease Cloud Music Black Glue Playing Page; Cool Dog Music And QQ Music Copy The "listen Together" Function Of Netease Cloud Music; Cool Dog Music Copied Netease Cloud Music "yunbei Push Song" Function Setting And Interface Design.
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"Interface Design Is A Work Of Art. Whether It Is Suspected Of Plagiarism Depends On Whether It Is Enough To Cause Confusion And Misrecognition And Purchase By Ordinary Consumers In Specific Cases. Function Is An Abstract Concept, And The Probability Of Being Protected By Copyright Law Is Low. Therefore, The Music Platform Chooses To Resort To The Protection Of Anti Unfair Competition Law. Any Behavior That Repeatedly Violates The Principle Of Good Faith And Obtains Competitive Advantage May Be Identified As Unfair Competition Fight. " Hu Gang Said.
"Article 5 (3) Of The Anti Unfair Competition Law" It Stipulates That Business Operators Shall Not Engage In Market Transactions By Using Other People's Well-known Names Without Authorization, Leading People To Mistakenly Believe That They Are Other People's Goods And Other Improper Means, So As To Damage Competitors. Therefore, If An Operator Arbitrarily Takes The Well-known Name Or Short Name Of Others As The Key Words Of Internet Bidding Ranking, Causing Confusion And Misunderstanding Among The Public, And Using The Popularity And Goodwill Of Others To Achieve The Purpose Of Publicity And Promotion, It Is An Act Of Unfair Competition And Should Be Prohibited. " Jiang Xue, A Lawyer From Beijing Jingshi (Tongzhou) Law Firm, Told China Business Daily.
So, Will Netease Cloud Concert Win? "As Long As What Netease Cloud Music Said Is True And Supported By Corresponding Evidence, There Is A Chance Of Winning The Lawsuit." Jiang Xue Said.
According To The Provisions On Business Operators In Article 2 Of The Anti Unfair Competition Law, The Determination Of Business Operators Does Not Require The Plaintiff And The Defendant To Belong To The Same Industry Or Service Category. As Long As They Are Market Subjects Engaged In Commodity Operation Or Profit-making Services, They Can Become Business Operators. Netease Cloud Music And Tencent Music Entertainment Group Are Market Entities Engaged In Internet Music Services And Operators In The Sense Of Anti Unfair Competition Law. There Is A Competitive Relationship Between The Two Sides.
"If A Business Operator With Business Ties In Market Competition Violates The Principle Of Good Faith And Recognized Business Ethics, Improperly Hinders The Legitimate Operation Of Other Business Operators And Damages The Legitimate Rights And Interests Of Other Business Operators, It May Be Recognized As Unfair Competition In Accordance With The Principled Provisions Of Article 2 Of The Anti Unfair Competition Law. At The Same Time, Business Operators Engaged In Internet Music Service Business Should Still Obtain Competitive Advantage Through Good Faith Operation And Fair Competition Without The Permission Of Others, They Can Take Advantage Of The Service Behavior Of Others Or Make Profits By Means Of Regional Illegal Broadcasting And Illegal Release. " Jiang Xue Said.
The War Has Been Burning For A Long Time
In Fact, Netease Cloud Music And Tencent Music Have Long Had Disputes Over Copyright Issues.
In May 2017, Tencent Music Entertainment Group Gathered The Exclusive Copyright Of The World's Three Major Record Companies, Including Universal Music, Sony Music And Warner Music. Through Multiple Acquisitions, Tencent Music Entertainment Group Formed An Exclusive Copyright Advantage And Monopolized The Music Resources Of A Group Of Singers Such As Jay Chou And Zhang Huimei. In February 2018, Tencent And Netease Reached An Agreement To Mutually License Music Works And Open Them To Other Platforms, With The Number Of Their Own Exclusive Music Reaching More Than 99%.
Last July, The State Administration Of Market Supervision Issued A Punishment Decision On Tencent's Acquisition Of China Music Group For Illegal Concentration Of Business Operators, Requiring Tencent To Terminate The Agreement Reached With The Copyright Owner Within 30 Days. In August Last Year, Tencent Announced That It Had Given Up The Exclusive Right To License Music, Saying That Most Of The Contracts Had Been Terminated On Schedule.
In Response To This Matter, Netease CEO Ding Lei Publicly Shouted To Tencent: "we See The Announcement That Tencent Music Gives Up The Exclusive Copyright Of Music. We Look Forward To It Very Much. This Is A Sincere Decision Without Any Overt Obedience Or Covert Violation."
However, Judging From The Results Of Last Year's Financial Report, Netease Cloud Music Has Not Yet Got Rid Of The Loss Dilemma. Last Year, Netease Cloud Music Achieved A Revenue Of 6.997 Billion Yuan, A Year-on-year Increase Of 42.9%; The Adjusted Net Loss Was 1 Billion Yuan, A Year-on-year Decrease Of 33.4%. In The Fourth Quarter Of Last Year, Its Online Music Service Had 182.6 Million Monthly Active Users And 28.9 Million Monthly Paying Users.
The Financial Report Of Tencent Music Is More "good-looking". Last Year, The Total Revenue Of Tencent Music Was 31.24 Billion Yuan, A Year-on-year Increase Of 7.2%, And The Net Profit Attributable To The Shareholders Of The Company Was 3.029 Billion Yuan, A Year-on-year Decrease Of 27%. Among Them, Online Music Subscription Revenue Was 7.33 Billion Yuan, A Year-on-year Increase Of 31.9%. In The Fourth Quarter Of Last Year, Tencent Music Had 615 Million Monthly Live Music Users, And 76.2 Million Paid Users Of Online Music Services.
"With The End Of The Era Of Exclusive Copyright And The Advent Of The Post Copyright Era, Netease Cloud Music May Gain New Opportunities For Development. Tencent Music And Netease Cloud Music Have Been Fighting In The Field Of Originality And Copyright. On The Whole, Tencent Music Has Obvious Advantages In Market Scale And Profit." Yu Yuan, An Analyst At Mob Research Institute, Told China Business Daily.
Yu Yuan Said: "From The Perspective Of Competition Pattern, Tencent Music And Netease Cloud Music Are In The First Echelon In The Market Competition Pattern; From The Perspective Of Revenue, The Operating Revenue Of Tencent Music And Netease Cloud Music Has Continued To Grow In Recent Three Years, But The Growth Rate Of Revenue Has Shown A Downward Trend; From The Perspective Of Revenue Structure, The Proportion Of Revenue Of Tencent Music And Netease Cloud Music In Online Music Services, Social Entertainment Services And Other Areas Has Changed In Reverse. Tencent Music The Proportion Of Online Music Services In The Overall Revenue Is Decreasing Year By Year, While The Proportion Of This Sector In The Revenue Structure Of Netease Cloud Music Is Increasing Year By Year. This Also Shows That Netease Cloud Music Continues To Increase Its Code On The Content Supply Side, And The Subscription Payment Rate Can Be Expected To Grow. "