According to a CCTV report, recently, consumer Mu Mu (pseudonym) reported that on December 23, when he was buying plasters for his family on an e-commerce platform, he found that there were photos of academicians such as Zhong Nanshan and Li Lanjuan in the promotional pictures of related products in some stores, and the products claimed to be able to treat arthritis, skin diseases and diabetes and other diseases.
Image source: CCTV
According to the store name and product map provided by Mumu, the reporter found in two of the shops that many of the product display pictures were photos of Zhong Nanshan, and even a photo was accompanied by the words "invalid and severe".
The reporter asked the merchant about this, and one shop said that the product was not endorsed by Zhong Nanshan, while the customer service staff of another store said, "This is a display, you can shoot it with confidence, don't care." ”
Image source: CCTV
On the 27th, the reporter called Academician Zhong Nanshan to learn about the situation. Zhong Nanshan said that he has never endorsed or recommended any products for any merchants, including e-commerce. At the same time, he believes that the illegal use of other people's portraits for commercial endorsements and recommendations will also mislead consumers and infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. In this regard, he hopes that platforms and merchants can actively deal with this situation as soon as possible, and also hopes that relevant departments will strengthen industry supervision to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
The lawyer entrusted by Academician Zhong Nanshan's team said that a lawyer's letter had been sent to the platform and was defending his rights, and the platform told him that it was being processed, but it had not yet been processed.
Zhong Nanshan has been "endorsed" many times
In fact, this is not the first time that Academician Zhong Nanshan has been "recruited".
In April 2021, the Guangzhou Municipal Administration for Market Regulation announced the first batch (15) of typical cases of false and illegal advertisements in 2021. The announced cases involve illegal acts such as soliciting celebrity "endorsements" and deliberately misleading consumers.
A shopping mall in Tianhe District, Guangzhou City, without being able to prove that Academician Zhong Nanshan had made relevant remarks, placed in the milk sales area a sign with the contents of "Listen to Academician Zhong Nanshan's words, drink milk! Enhance immunity!" and made advertising signs and leaflets with a cartoon portrait of Academician Zhong Nanshan.
The Guangzhou Tianhe District Market Supervision Bureau imposed an administrative penalty on him, ordered him to stop publishing illegal advertisements, eliminated the impact within the corresponding scope, and imposed a fine of 200,000 yuan.
According to People's Daily Online, in 2012, Academician Zhong Nanshan inexplicably became the spokesperson of "Purple Tea Granules". In 2013, an advertisement made Academician Zhong Nanshan even more angry: a number of newspapers published advertisements at the same time, saying that he led more than 100 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to develop a special cough and asthma medicine "Cough Holy Formula".
Using someone else's likeness to promote a product without permission
Infringement of portrait rights
Liu Junhai, a professor at the Law School of Chinese Minmin University, said that using other people's portraits to promote products without authorization and making false recommendations or proofs infringes on the portrait rights of others, and can easily lead consumers to believe that they are true, and at the same time infringe on consumers' rights to know, choose, citizen transactions and security guarantees, and undermine the integrity of enterprises and the order of fair competition.
Chen Yinjiang, vice president of the China Consumers Association, said that without the consent of the portrait rights holder, no one may make, use or disclose the portrait of the portrait rights holder. Whether it constitutes an infringement of portrait rights usually considers two conditions, one is that it is without the consent of the person in question, and the other is that it is for profit. In the above-mentioned case, the merchant used another person's portrait for commercial advertising without the consent of the person concerned and for the purpose of profit, and used it as a website page to advertise or display the products for sale, which is a typical infringement of portrait rights and constitutes a civil infringement. The victim may demand that the other party cease the infringement and pay compensation for the damage caused.
In the investigation, the reporter found that most of the products sold by these merchants are health care products. The reporter inquired about the effect of the product, and some e-commerce customer service staff said that these products are health care products and not medicines, but they can treat some common diseases, "the effect is very good".
Image source: CCTV
Chen Yinjiang said that health care products should not be advertised as having therapeutic effects, nor should they use misleading language to mislead consumers into believing that they have therapeutic effects. In accordance with article 46 of the "Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China", the publication of advertisements for medical treatment, medicines, medical devices, pesticides, veterinary drugs, and health foods, as well as other advertisements that laws and administrative regulations provide shall be reviewed, shall be reviewed by the relevant departments before publication;
He also said that the platform should also take corresponding measures to prevent and stop the merchants who publish the above information and infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and report to the relevant departments, and the platform and the merchants should also cooperate with the relevant departments to investigate and collect evidence. If the platform ignores violations of laws and regulations, it will also bear corresponding responsibilities, and the regulatory authorities may impose penalties on the platforms and merchants in accordance with the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China, and consumers can also pursue the responsibility of the platform in accordance with the corresponding laws.
Source: "China Youth Daily" WeChat public account, CCTV, etc