Reporter | Chen Qirui
Edit | Lou Shuqin
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On the evening of February 13, the social software "Gel" issued a statement through its official Weibo account, saying that it would temporarily remove it from the app store and suspend new user entry to focus on improving the current user experience. Just two days ago, on February 11, the gel, which was only online for more than 20 days, topped the Apple App Store app list, the first social media app to surpass WeChat since 2019.
The gel comes with its own out-of-the-loop potential. Similar to the Korean social software Zepeto, which sparked a hot discussion a few years ago, Gel provides users with virtual character outfits that can be customized independently. Some netizens said that they spent time every day matching virtual characters on the gel, and took screenshots to share with other social media platforms.
Gel's positioning is "online apartment with close friends", and the user's friend list is limited to 50 people. This means that users must screen friends based on the distance of the relationship, that is, to create a sense of scarcity and exclusivity, and the social attributes of acquaintances also help to improve the stickiness and residence time.
Image source: Gel
Since there has been no new explosive social software in China for a long time, Gel provides a long-lost freshness for young people. But before it could fully win over young people, controversy had already arrived.
After the gel was launched, some users posted on Weibo pointing out that there was an information leakage vulnerability. These netizens said that after registering a gel with a mobile phone number, they received soft phone calls from unknown sources, and their WeChat id and QQ numbers were also at risk of being leaked. The question was then clarified, saying in a statement that it was an organized malicious slander from a competitor that had been called police.
Wave after wave of unevenness rose again, and then The Gel was caught up in the controversy of suspected plagiarism of the character's dress. In notes released on Feb. 9, Little Red Book user PEETA said that a hat on the gel was suspected of plagiarizing her design for her personal brand and had previously registered the copyright at Alibaba.
Accessories brand THE JINGINGLAB said in its Feb. 11 note that there are many similarities between the "flower bag" of the gel and the "dream bubble flower down cross-body bag" launched by the brand in 2021.
Little Red Book user PEETA said that the gel hat is similar to its design
Accessories brand THE JINGINGLAB says the bags in the gel are similar to their designs
Interface Fashion also found after registering a gel account that some of the character outfit accessories were similar to the fashion brand items that were currently on fire, including The Rubber Chelsea Boots of the Butterfly Family, Margiera's Split Toe Shoes, Yasuhiro Mihara's Dissolved Shell Head Sneakers, and By Far's Miranda tote Bag.
In response, the gel said that the relevant plagiarism allegations are inconsistent with the facts, the company complies with relevant laws and regulations, adheres to legal and compliant operations, and will establish a stricter internal audit mechanism in the future.
The second pair of shoes in the first row resembles the Margiela split-toe shoes
The contents of The Margiera's split-toe shoes on the Little Red Book
The second and third pairs of shoes in the first row resemble the Butterfly Chelsea boots
Little Red Book on the Contents of the Chelsea Boots
Virtual digital rights controversies in the fashion industry are frequent, especially at the time of the arrival of the "metacosm". Herma previously accused American digital art designer Mason Rothschild of allegedly infringing the "MetaBirkins" series of NFT art collections.
Hermès said the brand never authorized Mason Rothschild to create platinum packages within the metaverse, and the items in the "MetaBirkins" series were fakes. Mason Rothschild said that he did not use hermès trademarks in his creations, but in reality the word "Birkin" and the appearance of the platinum bag have been patented.
Digital transformation has become a brand consensus, but it is still mostly focused on the marketing field. Previously, the interface fashion wrote that the protection of virtual property rights is still in a vague area at this stage. The decentralized nature of the virtual world realm means that anyone can upload and sell products and become copyright owners. While brands such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton have begun to protect virtual property rights, a large number of infringements have already occurred.
However, at the legal level, the scope of infringement in the virtual world is still vague. Lawyer You Yunting, a senior partner at Shanghai Dabang Law Firm, told Interface Fashion that the use of clothing designed by others and brands in the game should theoretically obtain the authorization of the corresponding clothing brand.
"In practice, it is determined that because the clothing is functional, the version of the clothing is how much cloth is cut out, and the version of these cloths is protected." You Yunting said, "But the assembled costume is not protected by the effect." ”
That is to say, the virtual world clothing actually shows the renderings, not the real clothing or accessories, and the brand rights protection will have certain technical difficulties. However, You Yunting also pointed out that the developer's approach may lead consumers to mistakenly believe that the software has been licensed by the brand.
"In this case, if the case becomes a lawsuit, the court will still protect the clothing brand." You Yunting added, "Specifically, it may be found that the renderings of the clothing constitute copyright infringement." Because the details of part of the design are obviously also expressed. At the same time, the use of in-game brands constitutes unfair competition. ”