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In this era when traffic is king, the Internet celebrity economy is booming, and cases of becoming popular overnight are not uncommon. But behind the glamorous appearance, there is a game between capital and Internet celebrities.
Some people make a lot of money in this game, and some people end up as slaves to money under the manipulation of capital. Today, let's take a closer look at three well-known Internet celebrities and see how they paid a heavy price under the teasing of capital.
Li Ziqi - attracted 2.2 billion in gold and shared 3 million
In the early years, Li Ziqi was a poor girl from the depths of the mountains, and with her simple temperament and exquisite cooking skills, she quickly became popular on the short video platform.
Her video shows the beauty of traditional life and attracts countless fans, but within a few years, Li Ziqi fell into the whirlpool of disputes with capital.
It turned out that Li Ziqi's rapid popularity attracted the attention of Hangzhou Weinian Company. Weinian took a fancy to the huge commercial value behind Li Ziqi, so he reached a cooperation with him.
Weinian took over Li Ziqi's business operations, registered the "Li Ziqi" trademark, and established a number of subsidiaries. Li Ziqi can only be a partner and get a meager dividend.
As Li Ziqi's popularity became higher and higher, Weinian took the opportunity to launch a variety of peripheral products, among which "Li Ziqi snail noodles" was the best-seller. According to statistics, this product alone has contributed hundreds of millions of yuan in revenue to Weinian.
However, in the face of such an astonishing revenue, Li Ziqi could only get a mere 3 million dividends. The most unacceptable thing is that the brand "Li Ziqi" does not belong to her personally.
In October 2021, Li Ziqi finally couldn't bear it anymore and took Weinian to court. She bluntly said in the indictment that Weinian took advantage of the contract loophole to empty her rights in the company and occupy huge profits for a long time.
It is required to confirm that Li Ziqi has complete rights to the trademark and IP of "Li Ziqi", and that Weinian Company and its legal representative stop the infringement and compensate for the losses. Her years of hard work have been exchanged for the tragic situation of being played by capital.
It is reported that the cooperation between Li Ziqi and Weinian began in 2016. At that time, Li Ziqi's video had just become popular on the Internet, and Weinian came to the door and proposed a plan to fully operate its IP.
Li Ziqi established Ziqi Culture with Hangzhou Weinian Company in 2016, with both parties holding 51% and 49% of the shares respectively. Li Ziqi devotes himself to video creation, while the company is in charge of operations.
But what Li Ziqi didn't know was that Li Ziqi had no right to speak at all in the company's major decisions. In terms of income distribution, Li Ziqi suffered a big loss.
At first, everything went well, and Li Ziqi's food brand sold well at home and abroad, with an annual income of more than 100 million. But she didn't expect that she didn't have any actual power in the company, and even the ownership of the IP of "Li Ziqi" did not belong to her.
Moreover, without her knowledge, Weinian Company set up a number of subsidiaries such as Ziqi snail noodles, and made a lot of money, but Li Ziqi could only get a very small amount of dividends.
All kinds of injustices made Li Ziqi disheartened, she stopped updating, and sued Weinian Company, demanding to take back her own rights and interests.
According to Li Ziqi in the indictment, in the five years of cooperation between the two parties, Weinian has developed dozens of products such as snail noodles, hot pot bases, and moon cakes with the help of its IP, with a total revenue of up to 2.2 billion yuan.
At that time, when Wei Nian was negotiating with her, he had promised to give an option reward, and this eventually became a dead letter. Weinian's various behaviors made Li Ziqi feel deceived and betrayed, and the cooperative relationship existed in name only.
Li Ziqi's trademark application record further reveals the greedy nature of Weinian Company. According to the website of the Trademark Office, there are as many as 163 applications for the registration of the trademark "Li Ziqi", of which the applications of Ziqi Culture have been approved, while the applications of Weinian Company have all been rejected.
It can be seen that Weinian Company has been coveting the golden sign of "Li Ziqi" in a vain attempt to take it for itself. However, after a period of stoppage, Li Ziqi and Weinian Company reached a settlement.
It can be seen from Li Ziqi's experience that in the current Internet celebrity economy, some MCN institutions are actually squeezing the interests of Internet celebrities under the guise of "incubation". They take advantage of contract loopholes to keep most of the influencer's earnings for themselves, while putting the risk and responsibility on the influencer personally.
For grassroots Internet celebrities like Li Ziqi, how to protect their own interests while obtaining the help of capital to achieve commercial realization is a question worth pondering.
You must know that the life cycle of Internet celebrities is often very short, and if you can't convert traffic into tangible benefits in time, then you may end up with a bamboo basket for nothing.
Haiyang - attracted more than 100 million yuan, but was sued by the company
In 2018, Haiyang signed a contract with an MCN company, agreeing that the company would have full authority to operate its short video account. At first, the cooperation between the two parties was quite pleasant, and under the operation of the company, the commercial value of Haiyang has been rapidly amplified. It is reported that the revenue he has created for the company is as high as hundreds of millions of yuan.
However, the good times did not last long, and as Haiyang's popularity grew, the company's control over him became more and more strict. From live content to business cooperation, the company intervened in every detail, and Haiyang gradually lost its autonomy. What is even more unacceptable to him is that over the years, he has earned huge profits for the company, but his own income is pitiful.
In 2020, Haiyang's contract expired, and he decided to part ways with the company. What he didn't expect was that the company not only did not agree to terminate the contract, but also sued it in court for breach of contract, claiming tens of millions of yuan.
For a while, Haiyang was deeply involved in contract disputes, and the live broadcast was forced to be interrupted, and he realized that he was just a chess piece in the hands of capital.
Haiyang has more than 17 million followers on Douyin and has received a total of more than 280 million likes, which can be described as a well-deserved top Internet celebrity. However, in a video, he revealed that he had been deceived by the company, had not earned a penny for five years, and suffered from severe depression.
This once high-spirited "big Internet celebrity" has fallen into such a situation, which can't help but make people sigh.
In this regard, industry insiders called on relevant departments to strengthen the supervision of the MCN industry, standardize its operation model, and cut off the deformed benefit transmission chain between capital and Internet celebrities.
For the majority of Internet celebrities, before signing an MCN, you must keep your eyes open and see every word in the contract. Don't be fooled by the high signing fee, and don't believe in the myth of "overnight popularity".
Meunier - was deceived of 40 million, and the boss ran away with the money
On the Douyin platform, there is a blogger who became popular because he looks like Li Ronghao, and he is Meunier. In 2019, Meunier quickly attracted a large number of fans with his creative short videos.
The number of followers of his account reached more than 30 million at its peak, and he once became the head Internet celebrity of Douyin.
Seeing Meunier's huge traffic value, many MCN companies have come to the door, hoping to reach cooperation with him. Meunier eventually chose a company called Youlang Culture, which operated his own short video account.
Under the company's packaging, Meunier's worth has risen, and he even cooperated with many stars to shoot promotional videos, which can be described as a spring breeze.
What Meunier didn't expect, however, was that it was all built on a hoax. In October 2022, he posted on social platforms that he was defrauded of more than 40 million by the company's boss.
It turns out that the boss of Youlang Culture has been using Meunier's account to falsely advertise, deceive fans into buying fake products, and defraud money. Meunier had no idea about this and was still counting the money for his boss.
That's not all, the boss of Youlang Culture not only deceived Meunier, but also suspected of defrauding more than 50 other Internet celebrities, with illegal profits of more than 200 million yuan. Although Meunier was not directly involved in the fraud, he could not escape joint and several liability, and his account was forced to be suspended for rectification.
According to media reports, Luo, the boss of Youlang Culture, has begun to commit fraud as early as 2020. He first attracted many top Internet celebrities, including Meunier, to settle in with a high signing fee and sharing ratio.
Subsequently, he used the accounts of these Internet celebrities to sell a large number of fake products on major e-commerce platforms to deceive consumers.
What's even more despicable is that in order to hide people's eyes, Luo also set up a number of leather bag companies to falsify performance data and defraud investment. According to the police, Luo made illegal profits of more than 200 million yuan through this means.
And most of this money goes into his pocket, and Internet celebrities can only get a little "fraction".
People are separated from their bellies, who would have thought that Meunier's boss, who accompanies him day and night, and shares weal and woe, is actually a sanctimonious "well-dressed beast". This boss is not only suspected of fraud, but also takes advantage of his position to embezzle the interests of the company and artists.
As the company's top artist, Meunier deserved to receive a generous share and reward, but unexpectedly became the boss's "ATM" and was defrauded of more than 40 million of his hard-earned income.
Epilogue:
The three Internet celebrities who should have been popular have all become playthings of capital, and in the end, the bamboo basket has come to naught. There are all kinds of chaos behind the Internet celebrity economy: capital manipulation, benefit transfer, and contract traps.
Under the temptation of money, some MCN companies have completely lost their moral bottom line, they use influencers to create value, but do not give influencers the rewards they deserve, and even design scams to put influencers in prison.
In order to expand rapidly, many MCN companies do not hesitate to poach Internet celebrities at high prices, giving sky-high signing fees and sharing ratios. But once an Internet celebrity signs a contract, it is equivalent to putting his fate in the hands of the company. The company controls the traffic distribution channels and commercial resources, and the influencers can only be slaughtered by others and forced to accept unequal terms and treatment.
For those young people who dream of stardom, the road to Internet celebrity is by no means an easy road. Before signing a contract with an MCN company, be sure to keep your eyes open, read every word in the contract, and don't be blinded by the high signing fee.
Resources
https://news.sina.cn/sh/2022-12-28/detail-imxyfcve6905375.d.html
Weinian reconciled with Li Ziqi, but they lost to the market Source: 21st Century Business Herald 21 Financial APP Author: Zhao Xiaoyu2022-12-27 15:58
2022 12/12Source: Hairun Tianrui Law Firm Legal risks and prevention and control measures for merchants in "live streaming".
Tens of millions of fans of Internet celebrities complained that they were painted by MCN: "Diagnosed with depression, I haven't made a penny in five years" 2022-10-12 23:29 Posted in: Beijing
Looking at the game of economic interests of Internet celebrities from the Li Ziqi incident 2021-09-28 03:22 Source: Securities Times Author: Chen Xin
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