Jay Chou sues NetEase, unfair competition case to be decided.
Compiled from: Zhongxin News, The Paper, National Business Daily
Case review
On April 10, a court hearing notice from the Binjiang District Court in Hangzhou drew attention. The notice stated that the unfair competition dispute case filed by Jay Chou and JVR Music Co., Ltd. against NetEase (Hangzhou) Network Co., Ltd., Guangzhou NetEase Computer System Co., Ltd., and Hangzhou NetEase Leihuo Technology Co., Ltd. would be heard by the Binjiang District Court on April 17. Due to the involvement of a famous artist and internet companies, the information quickly sparked widespread discussion online.
On the 10th, one of the plaintiffs, JVR Music Co., Ltd., confirmed that the main reason for the lawsuit filed by Jay Chou and the company was the infringement by NetEase's online game "Tianxia 3," which had privately launched a promotional campaign offering Jay Chou's latest album and concert tickets during its game promotion.
JVR Music stated that in July 2022, NetEase's game "Tianxia 3," during its operational promotional activities, without obtaining authorization, privately launched a campaign offering Jay Chou's latest album and concert tickets. Its infringing conduct was likely to cause confusion, leading people to mistakenly believe that the online game "Tianxia 3" had a specific connection with Jay Chou and JVR Music. Therefore, after engaging legal counsel, it decided to formally file an unfair competition lawsuit against the three aforementioned companies, requesting the court to order the three defendants to cease their infringing activities.
"Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 6
Business operators shall not engage in the following confusing acts that mislead others into believing that their goods are those of others or that there is a specific connection with others:
(1) Unauthorized use of identifiers identical or similar to others' well-known product names, packaging, decorations, etc.;
(2) Unauthorized use of others' well-known enterprise names (including abbreviations, trade names, etc.), social organization names (including abbreviations, etc.), and personal names (including pen names, stage names, translated names, etc.);
(3) Unauthorized use of others' well-known domain name main parts, website names, web pages, etc.;
(4) Other confusing acts sufficient to mislead others into believing they are others' goods or have a specific connection with others.
[1] The author's perspective
In today's media age, promotion and publicity have a certain driving effect on all industries, and if combined with celebrity influence, the effect is even better. For this reason, many businesses try to associate their promotional activities with celebrities. This time, NetEase set the prize as Jay Chou's album when promoting its own game, causing many fans to mistakenly believe that the game was related to Jay Chou, indirectly harming Jay Chou's interests.
In fact, as a large domestic enterprise with extensive business scope, NetEase should not have such a weak legal awareness. Ultimately, whether it is disregarding everything for profit or genuinely believing its actions are lawful and reasonable, we do not know. However, the court will ultimately rule according to the law, so let us wait and see.
