01
In 2003, Li Jian released his first solo album "Like a Year of Water" after leaving "Mizuki Nianhua".
The album contains a total of 10 songs, the 9th of which is "Legend", composed by Li Jian himself and lyrics by Liu Bing (about the stage name).
After the album and song "Legend" was released, it did not attract much attention and soon went quiet.
In October 2008, songwriters Liu Bing and Li Jian exclusively authorized the global information network dissemination rights, songwriting copyrights, neighboring rights and phonogram copyrights of "Legend" to Laosun Culture (Beijing) Co., Ltd. for a period of 6 years.
Except for Li Jian himself, everyone else must be authorized to sing this song.
Laosun Culture (Beijing) Co., Ltd. was established in 2006, and the chairman Sun Yongzhi is a well-known songwriter and music producer.
02
In 2010, Faye Wong sang this song at the Spring Festival Gala. Tianhou + big platform, completely let "Legend" fire.
Faye Wong sang this song with permission!
Of course, these trifles do not need to be worried about the Queen of Heaven, and the experienced Spring Festival Gala crew got the copyright issue early on and got a one-time authorization from Lao Sun Culture Company.
Compared with the 1980s and 1990s, the music scene is becoming more and more sluggish, and an important feature is that there are not many good works, which makes it appear that there is a surplus of singers.
No one cultivates the skinny field, and there is a struggle for ploughing!
After "Legend" became popular, many singers had to cover songs, and singers such as Sun Nan, Zhou Bichang, Zhou Huajian, and Fei Yuqing obtained authorization from Lao Sun Culture.
Good works must also be fully utilized, and "Legend" has also produced Cantonese, Tibetan and English versions.
Among them, the English version was licensed to the Danish Mike Learning Rock Band.
03
However, Lao Sun Culture found that there were still some that were not authorized by them.
As soon as the Spring Festival Gala in 2010 passed, Pan Meichen sang this song at the Beijing concert, and also used Li Jian's band.
Pan Meichen does not often live in the mainland, and the cost of defending her rights is very high; Sun Yongzhi went to the organizers, and the other party had a "you go to sue" attitude.
Therefore, the matter was finally closed.
Faye Wong sang "Legend", and "Legend" also brought Faye Wong's career to another climax, and the two sides achieved each other.
Tianhou also started the "Tour" in 2010, and naturally also sang the hottest "Legend".
However, the organizer did not obtain authorization from Lao Sun Culture.
In 2012, Mao Ning released an album "Twelve Kinds of Mao Ning", which contained 12 songs.
The 12 songs are all cover songs, including "Legend", which is also not authorized by Lao Sun Culture and Sun Yongzhi.
Since the "Legend" fire, many friends think that Sun Yongzhi has made a fortune and made tens of millions, but in fact, it is far from so much.
Most of the previously unauthorized singers performed at concerts, while Mao Ning was included in his album.
After encountering this new situation, Sun Yongzhi, who could not bear it, decided to take up legal weapons to defend his rights.
Among the several lawsuits he fought, the lawsuit against Faye Wong and Mao Ningfang attracted the most attention, and the final result also made him cry and laugh.
04
In October 2012, Lao Sun Culture sued the organizer, organizer, planner and agency of Faye Wong's concert, claiming 3.5 million yuan in copyright fees.
In November 2013, the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court pronounced a judgment that the plaintiff won the lawsuit and was compensated RMB2,250 for the use of the lyrics of the song "Legend" involved in the case.
More than 2,000 yuan is a far cry from 3.5 million appeals.
Sun Yongzhi spent a total of nearly 70,000 yuan on this cost, including lawyers' fees, litigation fees, transportation costs and so on.
There are two main points of contention between the parties in this case:
1. Whether it is infringing or not
The defendant argued that the copyright of this song belonged to the Chinese Music Writers Association, and Faye Wong sang with the authorization of the Music Writers Association.
Li Jian joined the Music Writers Association in 2003, and the plaintiff joined the Music Writers Association in 2010.
As a result, they all entrusted the right to public performances of musical works to the management of the Association.
Organizers and other units have paid copyright fees to the Music and Writing Association.
The plaintiff argued that they signed an agreement with the China Music Writers Association at the end of 2010 to formally join the association and allow the music writers association to use the song. Before that, Faye Wong's singing had to be authorized by them.
The court ruled that the composer Li Jian had joined the Music Writers Association, and Faye Wong had paid the music fee to the Music Writers Association for singing "Legend" in concert, and the song could be performed; but the lyricist Liu Bing did not join the Music Writers Association, and the defendant had to pay the lyrics copyright fee.
2. Compensation for expenses
The plaintiff argued that, in accordance with Article 2 of the Interim Measures for remuneration standards for performances under the National Copyright Administration, the copyright owner should be paid at a rate of not less than 25% of the total selling price of the tickets sold for each show.
Because it is impossible to verify the specific income of these concerts, it is estimated that Faye Wong will have 5 concerts in Beijing and 5 concerts in Shanghai in 2010. Some media reported that the income of these concerts may exceed 100 million.
Finally, a lower 3.5 million was set.
The defendant argued that whoever claimed and who gave evidence, the plaintiff must produce evidence to prove our actual income.
The court ruled that because it was impossible to determine the income of each concert, according to the minimum charging standard of 225 yuan for one concert by the Music and Writing Association, a total of 2250 yuan for 10 concerts.
05
The lawsuit against Mao Ningfang for infringement was earlier
In September 2012, Lao Sun Culture sued the publisher and seller of Mao Ning's album in court, claiming more than 522,000 yuan.
In March 2013, the Chaoyang District People's Court of Beijing Municipality rendered a first-instance judgment, finding that the albums involved in the case did not constitute infringement and rejecting the plaintiff's litigation claims.
Sun Yongzhi did not get a penny of compensation, what is going on?
The focus is on whether the cover song is infringing!
According to the "Statutory License for Sound Recording" of the Copyright Law:
A sound recording producer who uses a musical work that has been legally recorded as a phonogram by another person may, without the permission of the copyright owner, but shall pay remuneration in accordance with regulations;
Let us analyze the case gradually in comparison with the above provisions:
1. Li Jian's "Like Water Flowing Year" album is a legal recorded music work that has been released, and the copyright has been granted to Lao Sun Culture.
2. Other recording producers may use the songs in the "Like Water Flow Year" album to make audio recordings without the consent of Lao Sun Culture, including "Legend" in it.
In this case, the defendant's cover of "Legend" was included in his album.
3, but to pay remuneration
The defendant has already paid 4800 yuan to the Music Writers Association, and Lao Sun Culture has joined the Music Writers Association before the release of the album.
The 4800 yuan is the copyright fee for the entire album, with an average of 400 yuan per song.
3. The cover of "Like a Year of Water Flow" printed with the words "Copyright, Ripped must be investigated" should be understood as a statement prohibiting others from ripping without authorization, and cannot be regarded as a statement that cannot be used (including cover songs).
Therefore, Mao Ningfang did not constitute infringement, and Lao Sun Culture lost the lawsuit!
Sun Yongzhi felt very aggrieved, and he listed many copyright charging channels such as KTV, cover songs, and DVDs:
"Others think I have to make a lot of money because of Legend, but for example, karaoke, the settlement income given to me by the Music Writers Association in 2010, when "Legend" was the hottest, was only 90 yuan."