Deng Ziqi can't sing "Bubble" anymore?

Author | Fan Zhihui

Recently, Deng Ziqi has been in big trouble.

On January 16, Deng Ziqi's former company, Hummingbird Music, released a copyright statement, claiming that it was the exclusive owner of the recording, lyrics and copyrights of a total of 103 songs produced and released by Deng Ziqi from 2008 to 2018.

If this is the case, it means that many studio albums such as "G.E.M.", "18...", "My Secret", "Xposed", "New Heartbeat", and the live concert album "G.E.M X.X.X. Live", as well as the EPs and singles released during the period, may have nothing to do with Deng Ziqi in the future.

Whether it is covering, copying (such as releasing physical albums), performances, and information network dissemination on music platforms, as well as the use in films, television, and games, whether commercial or non-commercial use, all must be licensed through Hummingbird Music, even if Deng Ziqi himself is the same.

Can you imagine that if Deng Ziqi wants to sing the "Bubble" written by himself, he needs to go to the former company for authorization?

It's unfair and ridiculous for creators, right?

It can be said that Deng Ziqi is worse than Taylor Swift, Taylor only lost the recording copyright of the first six albums, and Deng Ziqi even bought out the copyright of the lyrics and songs, and he can't remake it if he wants to.

Personally, I guess that it is likely that he was young and ignorant at the time, or did not pay enough attention to the contract itself, and was fooled by Hummingbird Music to sign a deed of sale for the sale of lyrics, songs and recording copyrights.

Let's take a look back at the process of cooperation between the two sides.

In 2006, Deng Ziqi, who was only 15 years old, participated in the inter-school singing competition of 30 middle schools, and met the judge at that time was also the later Bole Zhang Dan, and signed his Hummingbird Music at the age of 16, and won the Gold Award for Newcomer at the Hong Kong Three Music Awards;

Until March 7, 2019, Deng Ziqi unilaterally announced the termination of the contract with Hummingbird Music, but was not recognized by Hummingbird Music, and issued a statement stating that Deng Ziqi's contract is valid until 2022, and fully owns the copyright of the musical works and recordings related to Deng Ziqi during this period, as well as certain other trademarks and intellectual property rights.

Subsequently, the two parties sued each other for breach of contract and went to court.

After Deng Ziqi set up his own portal, at the end of December 2019, Deng Ziqi released his first album "Sky Zoo" after gaining freedom.

Among them, there is a song "Full Stop", which tells the process of her cooperation and separation from Hummingbird Music. From the first meeting, the first release of various details, and called Hummingbird Music CEO Zhang Dan "except for my father, you used to be my most trusted man", but he "said it was a commodity", and finally "too many disappointments made my trust in you slowly collapse".

In October 2020, after Deng Ziqi won the first Golden Melody Award, he publicly shouted to Hummingbird Music and his former agent on Weibo, "I am really not a commodity in your hands, I can still do without you, and I am more blooming."

On September 9, 2023, that is, three years later, Deng Ziqi posted that the song ("Period") written while crying back then can finally be sung with a smile.

So, will Deng Ziqi never be able to get back the music copyright of those ten years in the future?

At the moment, it seems that there may be a chance.

Music Pioneer noted that in the lawsuit against Hummingbird Music, Deng Ziqi pointed out that she signed the composer and singer contract because the company made false statements, so she claimed that the contract was invalid. At the same time, he said that Hummingbird Music had registered "G.E.M." in Hong Kong and the mainland without his consent. and the trademark "Deng Ziqi".

In other words, the key to whether Deng Ziqi can get back his copyright lies in how to prove that Hummingbird Music made a "false statement" when signing the contract, and then deny the legal validity of these two contracts.

Finally, I wish Deng Ziqi good luck and hope that she can get back her creative efforts.

Typography | A