Cai Xukun's two albums cause dispute, 64 million yuan in deposits frozen
[4] Compiled from: Red Star News
Case review
[2] Recently, the non-litigation property preservation review ruling of Beijing Idol Century Culture Media Co., Ltd., Tianjin Idol Century Culture Communication Co., Ltd., and Xinyi Cai Xukun Film and Television Culture Studio was made public. The document shows that the two Idol Century companies applied to the court for property preservation, requesting to freeze over 64 million yuan in bank deposits under the names of the respondent Cai Xukun and Xinyi Cai Xukun Film and Television Culture Studio for a period of one year. The court ruled that the application complied with legal provisions and ordered the freeze.
[3] It is reported that the artists signed by Beijing Idol Century Culture Media Co., Ltd. include the group NINE PERCENT, of which Cai Xukun is a member. In October 2018, NINE PERCENT disbanded.
[4] On April 11, 2022, Cai Xukun's studio issued a statement responding to the dispute with Idol Century, stating that the case involves a copyright rights dispute between the two parties over Cai Xukun's two albums "Mi" and "YOUNG," and revealed that the case has not yet been heard in court.
[5] "Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China"
[6] Article 42
[1] Producers of audio and video recordings who use others' works to produce such recordings must obtain permission from the copyright owner and pay remuneration.
[2] Producers of audio recordings who use musical works that have been legally recorded as audio recordings by others may do so without permission from the copyright owner, but must pay remuneration as stipulated; if the copyright owner declares that the work shall not be used, it must not be used.
[1] The author's perspective
[3] In daily life, we often hear about the copyright of articles and novels, but the music we usually listen to also has copyright, which can be subdivided into the copyright of the musical work itself and the lyrics and composition. The copyright of a musical work belongs to the author, and musical works are one of the main types of works protected by copyright. Musical works involve the composer, lyricist, performer (singer), music producer, music arranger, accompanist, instrumentalist, song translator, the heirs of the music author, and others who legally obtain music copyright. Music publishers and recorders may also obtain part or all of the music copyright through transfer from the music author or by developing the musical work. The copyright of lyrics and composition refers to the rights that the creator of a musical work enjoys according to law over their creation, mainly including property rights such as the right to perform, reproduce, broadcast, and transmit the musical work over networks, as well as moral rights such as the right of attribution and the right to protect the integrity of the work. Therefore, music copyright is a complex collection of rights.
[4] According to the above provisions of the Copyright Law, we can see that using musical works in ways such as printing and publishing, recording and distributing, public performance and singing, public broadcasting of recordings, broadcasting, arranging, and audio-visual mixing must obtain permission from the music copyright owner. The music copyright owner has the right to authorize others to use their musical works and receive remuneration for this, and of course, they also have the right to prohibit others from using their musical works. We also know that the benefits brought by celebrity albums are not a small amount, especially for top-tier idols like Cai Xukun. Therefore, the dispute between Cai Xukun and Idol Century Company is not only a copyright dispute but also a competition for traffic and interests.
