TikTok and problems with music copyright
TikTok, known in China as Douyin, a short-form video hosting service owned by Chinese company ByteDance, was sued by VNG in the past. The Vietnam tech company claimed compensation of VND 221 billion due to the use of Zing’s copyrighted sounds – a subsidiary of VNG without the consent of this platform. This is not the first time TikTok has been caught under copyright lawsuits like this.
VNG filed a lawsuit against TikTok for violating music rights in Vietnam
TikTok is a social platform allowing users to create short videos, edit with music and special effects. TikTok has rapid growth and popularity in all countries. With allegations from VNG, the number of songs in TikTok videos infringes copyrights up to 50%.
According to the content of the lawsuit, VNG requires TikTok to delete all the music segments taken from Zing’s records from both the application and the TikTok website. In addition, VNG requires TikTok to compensate VND 221 billion for the company’s financial damage. At the same time, the social media platform is also required to make a public apology in the media.
This is not the first time TikTok has been entangled in copyright legal suits, nor will it be the last time. It seems that TikTok has not yet addressed the music copyright well for its platform even after 6, 7 years in operation. In the past, the company also enclosed similar troublesome law cases.
Other infringements
In July 2019, TikTok was also sued for copyright infringement by International Copyrighted Enterprise (ICE). ICE is a music licensing center owned by music producers at the Performing Right Society (PRS) based in the United Kingdom, The Swedish Performing Rights Association (Svenska Tonsättares Internationella Musikbyrå – STIM) and the Association of Music Performance and derivative rights (Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte – GEMA) are based in Germany.
At that time, ICE’s representative said that TikTok’s platform was not licensed and the two parties have not reached a reasonable agreement. TikTok has not been able to use millions of music works belonging to musicians, composers, and the publishers represented by this center.
Besides, in April 2020, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) based in the United States threatened to sue TikTok on copyright issues. David Israelite, director of NMPA, shared with Financial Times that the music on which TikTok has not been licensed is estimated at more than 50%.
Before NMPA’s statements, TikTok reached an agreement to license intellectual property rights to this association.
Copyright issues for social platforms
The way that TikTok uses music without permission is alike Napster, the platform once famous for music file sharing. However, after a series of copyright infringement lawsuits, Napster was officially closed in 2001.
Apparently, social networking platforms often have difficulties in music copyright issues. Large platforms like Facebook or YouTube have their own policies for this issue. Accordingly, users must follow if they do not want the video to be removed. This helps the platforms avoid unnecessary disputes in term of copyright, protect right of authors and become more professional.
About TikTok, this platform has not paid the royalties for musicians, singers or owners of records as far. If TikTok only has commercial and entertainment targets, independent from the music works, it might not have got entangled in copyright lawsuits. However, TikTok is based on the use of music sources mainly owned by a third party. Therefore, the company needs to be clearer on copyright issues.
***Other Articles***
– You could see How To Register Trademark in China here.
– You could visit here to see Procedure of Trademark in China.
– You could visit here to check Required documents of filing trademark in China.
Contact AAA IPRIGHT: Email: [email protected]
Or sending your inquiry by filling the form:
