Text/Nuocheng Game Method, Zhu Junchao, Chen Jie
01
"Love and Deep Space" posted a reply.
Rap Circle and B You Circle Spark Controversies
On August 26, singer Peckert released a rap video, the content of which was taken from the game "Love and Deep Space". The lyrics "diss" the Otome game, which mentions "all edging and greasy, let children who are not adults play adult games". Peckert said in the release of the song that the song is only for minors who play the game and the age review system of some unscrupulous manufacturers.
That night, the official Weibo of the "Love and Deep Space" game issued a statement, claiming: "The forensic work has been completed, and the infringement and insulting behavior of Parker, whether it is the game itself, the game characters or the players, will not be tolerated or accepted, and will be pursued to the end. See you in court."
Nuocheng comments:
When insulting or defamatory content is published against a game, the game company may take the following measures to safeguard its reputation.
First of all, game companies can choose to protect their rights through litigation, or choose non-litigation channels such as complaining to the information release platform, reporting to the Cyberspace Administration of China, and sending a letter to the infringer.
Secondly, if the company wants to take litigation measures to protect its rights, it should promptly fix the account information of the infringer, the infringing content and its release time, broadcast volume, number of comments, number of forwards, etc., as well as the messages and feedback from netizens, in order to prove the existence, scope and severity of the infringement.
Furthermore, after the infringement is discovered, a statement should be issued as soon as possible to indicate the company’s position and attitude. This can not only stop the further spread of the infringement in a timely manner, but also convey the company’s determination to safeguard its own rights and interests to the infringers and players, reduce the adverse effects caused by the infringement, and appease the players’ emotions.
Finally, sort out the corresponding evidence and file a lawsuit with the court in a timely manner to safeguard their own rights and interests. In addition, by sending letters and other means, the information release platform can be required to disclose the real-name information corresponding to the infringer’s account, so that the game company can grasp the party information required for prosecution.
02
Jay Chou loses the lawsuit: game lottery to give away albums
Does not constitute unfair competition
Recently, Jay Chou and Jewell Music Co., Ltd. sued Guangzhou NetEase Computer Systems Co., Ltd. and other related entities (hereinafter referred to as "NetEase") in the case of 2nd-round Moderation, upholding the original judgment of the first instance.
The case originated because in July 2022, Jay Chou released his new album "The Greatest Work" after a lapse of six years, and NetEase’s "World 3" game gave Jay Chou digital albums and concert tickets in a lottery on Weibo. Jay Chou and Jewell Music Co., Ltd. sued NetEase for unfair competition.
In December 2023, the court ruled in favor of NetEase and rejected all claims including Jewell’s 2.05 million yuan claim.
The court of first instance held that:
1. "World 3" forwards the lottery to give Jay Chou’s digital album and other activities through Weibo, which is a conventional non-profit publicity method and will not mislead the public into thinking that Jay Chou has an endorsement relationship with him;
2. Making elements of Jay Chou’s new album as game props is essentially used as a redemption certificate and restricts the participation of old players. It does not have the nature of attracting new traffic and making profits, and does not constitute unfair competition.
3. The use of Jay Chou’s name in the lottery Weibo is a fair use to indicate the source of the prize, and there is no evidence to show that it caused harm to the plaintiff. The court held that the public had sufficient judgment to distinguish such interactive marketing activities from endorsement, so the behavior of "World 3" did not constitute unfair competition.
First of all, game companies can enhance the appeal of the event by mentioning giving away celebrity albums and extracting concert tickets in user feedback activities, but they need to ensure that the content of the prize promotion is clear and does not mislead the public.
For example, in this case, "World 3" made it clear that the prize was Jay Chou’s new album, rather than making the public mistake Jay Chou for its product spokesperson.
Secondly, when designing promotional activities, it is necessary to pay attention to the purpose and nature of the activities, especially when it comes to the use of third-party intellectual property or celebrity rights, and ensure that the activities are not designed to improperly use the goodwill or influence of others to attract new users and increase profits, but only as a welfare measure to reward existing users.
For example, the risk of unfair competition can be reduced by limiting the conditions for player participation, such as in this case limiting the participation of veteran players above level 20.
03
Sword Art Online: Swordsman in Black,
The game company was ordered to compensate players for their losses
Recently, the Beijing Internet Court has announced ten typical cases of service protection and new quality productivity, including an infringement dispute caused by the outage of online games.
The plaintiff, Cheng XX, a player of "Sword Art Online: Swordsman in Black", has two accounts for the game and has accumulated a recharge of nearly 430,000 yuan. In October 2019, the game operator issued a game outage announcement and said that it would transfer 5% of the total historical recharge of gamers to other games as compensation.
Subsequently, Cheng Moumou sued the operator to the court for economic losses and mental damages. The defendant argued that it was not at fault for suspending the game, and had compensated the players and was not liable for infringement.
After trial, the court held that virtual property such as currency and props in the game were protected by law. The defendant unilaterally stopped the game and disposed of the player’s virtual property without the consent of the player, resulting in the loss of the player’s property. He was subjectively at fault and should bear tort liability.
However, since the game virtual property involved in the case was not an item of special personal significance for the plaintiff, and the plaintiff did not suffer serious mental damage, the court rejected his claim for compensation for mental damage.
Finally, the court decided that the defendant should compensate the plaintiff about 36,000 yuan and interest according to the way to obtain the virtual property of the game and the remaining assets in the account when the game was suspended.
This case not only makes it clear that when there is no special provision in law, the tort liability of online virtual property should also apply the principle of fault liability; at the same time, it also further refines the compensation standard for infringement of online game virtual property, providing reference for the handling of similar cases.
Specifically, according to the method of acquisition and usage, online virtual property can be divided into two categories:
The first category is recharge virtual property, that is, the unused game currency and game items that the player directly obtains or exchanges after recharging through legal tender. For such virtual property, since the player has not yet enjoyed the rewards brought by the property when he suffered a loss, the game operator is obliged to return the RMB amount corresponding to the remaining virtual property.
The second category is non-recharge virtual property, that is, virtual property obtained by players during the game, such as task rewards, level drops, etc. For such virtual property, the compensation amount for the loss of virtual property should be determined as appropriate, taking into account factors such as the source and difficulty of obtaining the property, the fun generated by players in consumption, and the length of time they enjoy services.
Game grape recruitment content editor,
