Recently, the topic of copycat celebrities has once again attracted attention. According to China News Network, recently, a number of Jay Chou fans posted on social platforms, asking for a boycott of Jay Chou's imitators "Hei Lun" and "Porridge Cake Lun", because "Hei Lun" imitated Jay Chou for commercial performances, and also toured in bars in many places in June, and the "ticket price" of one of the stops was as high as 6,000 yuan; "Porridge Cake Lun" followed the footsteps of Jay Chou's concert and went to many places to engage in "national cake tour" (to the local cake stall).
Red Star News reporters combed and found that copycat celebrities have always been a controversial topic, and with the rise of short video platforms, from copycat Luhan, Huang Zitao, Jay Chou and other showbiz personalities, to copycat Zhou Hongyi, Lei Jun and other entrepreneurs, and then to copycat Hawking, Hannibal, etc., copycat celebrities have become popular on short video platforms.
In an interview with Red Star News, a lawyer said that copycat celebrities may involve infringement of name rights, portrait rights, etc., but whether copycat celebrities and copycat behaviors necessarily constitute infringement cannot be generalized in terms of legal characterization. Some lawyers believe that compared with copycat celebrities, the most important thing to regulate is those vulgar and sideline video makers, and these things bring more harm to the distortion of values.
"Copycat Jay Chou":
Posters promote multi-location tours
was exposed to a sky-high price of 6,000 yuan "tickets"
On June 21, China News Network reported the news that "Hei Lun" and "Porridge Cake Lun", two "copycat Jay Chou", performed in a bar in Taiyuan, Shanxi. It is mentioned that since June this year, "Hei Lun" has carried out in-depth cooperation with a chain bar in the name of "the first Jay Lun in the mainland", and has carried out store tours in many places, including Foshan, Suzhou, Hangzhou and other cities, and the attendance rate is amazing, and the songs he performed "All the Way North", "Stranded", "Zhou Daxia" and so on are all Jay Chou's works.
According to the promotional poster, the "Heilun" tour covers Foshan (1 June), Suzhou (7 June), Hangzhou (15 June), Taiyuan (21 June), Xi'an (22 June) and Xiamen (28 and 29 June), with performances taking place almost every weekend.
According to upstream news reports, "Hei Lun" was exposed to a sky-high "ticket" of 6,000 yuan for a performance at the Hangzhou Shangcheng store of the chain bar on June 15. According to an insider, 6,000 yuan is not a ticket, but a low consumption (minimum consumption) of bar seats. After the user makes a reservation, he can save the low-consumption beer, wine, fruit plate, snacks, etc., and the period is 30 days. The deposit for a reservation is non-refundable and will be converted to the member's balance. It is understood that the highest ticket price for Jay Chou's 2024 concert is only 2,000 yuan.
Insiders:
Copycat and imitation are two different things
Behind the copycat celebrities, there are many companies operating to promote
Some people in the entertainment industry told Red Star News that copycat celebrities first originated from imitation shows. A person likes a certain star, has a certain talent, or looks more alike, and is willing to imitate a star, this is a very normal thing, and there are often imitation show columns held by TV stations in the past, but now why is it not called imitation and copycat? It can be seen from this change in the word that the motive or purpose of copycat celebrities is no longer so pure, and for the sake of traffic and the economic benefits brought by traffic, some imitators even play various marginal balls for interests, and may even touch the vital interests of the imitated person, and there are certain legal risks.
The industry insider said that in a sense, copycat and imitation are already two different things. Parody shows are no problem, but copycats will cause a lot of controversy, and some copycats will be vulgar, lowering the aesthetics of the whole society, and may even bring some adverse guidance and influence to teenagers.
In addition, the industry insider also told Red Star News that compared with the past individuals who spontaneously imitated a star out of hobby or liking a star, there are all kinds of companies behind the behavior of more and more copycat celebrities, and these companies are uneven in terms of moral cognition, legal cognition and even related professional level, which has caused many chaos in the past of copycat celebrities, such as the business boss in May has been "touched" copycat.
The industry insider said that at present, although copycat celebrities appear on various short video platforms from time to time, they have not yet formed a scale in general, and there is no damage to the interests of the imitators. Taking mobile phones as an example, no matter how good copycat mobile phones are, they are copycats after all; With the continuous development of society, copycat mobile phones are now rare. With the improvement of public awareness, some of the chaos of copycat celebrities is believed to slowly disappear after there is no market.
Lawyer's Statement:
Whether copycat celebrities necessarily constitute infringement
It is not possible to generalize in terms of legal characterization
Zhao Hu, a lawyer at Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm, said that Article 1012 of the Civil Code stipulates that natural persons enjoy the right to a name and have the right to decide, use, change or permit others to use their names in accordance with the law, but they must not violate public order and good customs; Article 1019 stipulates that no organization or individual may infringe upon the portrait rights of others by means such as defacement, defacement, or forgery by means of information technology. Without the consent of the portrait rights holder, the portrait of the portrait rights holder must not be produced, used, or disclosed, except as otherwise provided by law.
Zhao Hu said that if a copycat celebrity involves using the name of the copycat celebrity to make a profit, it may involve infringement. In the process of copying, it may involve imitating and dressing up as a celebrity to make a profit, in which case it may be suspected of infringing portrait rights.
Yang Xiao, a lawyer at Beijing Huayi Law Firm, said that whether copycat celebrities and copycat behaviors necessarily constitute infringement cannot be generalized in terms of legal characterization. Based on the similarity of physical characteristics, after makeup or dress-up, participating in a parody show in his own name, that is to say, only performing an imitative performance, does not reach the point of confusing the audience with the celebrity himself, and there are no problems such as malicious uglification and derogation, which usually does not constitute infringement. In this case, the law cannot be too harsh, and celebrities, as public figures, should leave a certain amount of room for tolerance for imitation. If the copycat deliberately blurs his own characteristics and "closes" to the star himself, or even participates in commercial performances in the name of the star and obtains remuneration, this behavior infringes on the personality rights of the celebrity's name, portrait, etc., and will also constitute fraud to the audience and consumers, and should bear the corresponding tort liability.
Yang Xiao mentioned that the Anti-Unfair Competition Law focuses on the protection of property rights in commercial labels. If the copycat behavior of a copycat person and the commercial advertisements and commercial activities such as celebrity parody shows violate the principle of good faith and business ethics, they may infringe on trademark rights or constitute unfair competition, and infringe on the commercial value of the celebrity himself.
Yang Xiao said that the name rights and portrait rights of celebrities, in addition to the personal exclusivity of personality rights, also have commercial identity attributes and have certain commercial value. If a copycat or commercial entity is involved in the above-mentioned acts, uses ambiguous language or other misleading methods to promote goods in commercial activities, deliberately confuses the characteristics of the copycat person and the celebrity himself, and uses the celebrity's reputation to grab improper benefits, it may constitute unfair competition due to false publicity and shall be liable for damages.
Hu Yongping, a lawyer at Beijing Horizon Law Firm, mentioned that imitating celebrities, everyone knows that they are imitation shows, and they are willing to spend money on them, and both parties are voluntary, and they can do it if the law does not prohibit it. Of course, if someone pretends to be a celebrity, they may be suspected of fraud, illegal crimes, etc. Now the most important thing to regulate is those vulgar and marginal video makers, which bring more harm to the distortion of values.
Source: Red Star News
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