Taiwanese website Honggu Amo was investigated for copyright disputes caused by making Short Video

Taiwan's Internet celebrity Gu Amo has attracted millions of fans by making short videos, condensing the content of movies and TV dramas, and adding his own comments, but it has also triggered copyright disputes. Recently, he was charged by film companies and audio-visual platforms, and Taiwanese prosecutors have intervened in the investigation.

Original title: Making a movie "dehydrated spit version" Taiwanese Internet celebrity Gu Amo was investigated

According to reports, Taiwanese Internet celebrity Gu Amo attracted hundreds of millions of fans for making short videos, condensing the content of movies and TV dramas, and adding his own comments. However, it also triggered copyright disputes. Recently, he was charged by film companies and audio-visual platforms, and Taiwanese prosecutors have intervened in the investigation.

The short video produced by Gu Amo used quick words to tease or complain about the scenes of film and television dramas. But this time, what he wanted to tell was his true story. The problem lies in these short videos. Gu Amo said: "More than two years ago, I started making this on the Internet. The short films of the 'X Minutes to Watch the Movie' series are that you can watch hundreds of minutes in a few minutes. movie. The production method for this kind of second-created film is nothing more than collecting relevant pictures of the film on the Internet, then re-editing and arranging it, combining my creative experience and narration, and turning it into a new short film. And for such a series of short films that 'watch the movie in X minutes', there has always been a controversy with me, that is, did the movie pictures I used infringe copyright?"

Some film companies and audio-visual platforms have accused Gu Amo of using pirated films to edit and produce them, suspected of violating copyright-related regulations and affecting the box office. Taiwanese media reported that the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office has intervened in the investigation. Gu Amo confirmed,"Recently, the authors of some films I explained thought I had infringed on their copyright and filed charges against me. The police also brought search tickets to my company to conduct investigations, mainly to search for evidence to see if my character conforms to the principle of fair use of online copyright."

The principle of fair use of online copyright originates from the Berne Convention and is signed by most countries and regions around the world. Since the development trend of media, many netizens have used film and television drama clips to make videos and disseminate them. You Yunting, a lawyer from Shanghai Dabang Law Firm, reminded that including some "Internet celebrity big-size", there is a risk of infringement. The key lies in Whether to use it reasonably,"like our country's Copyright Law stipulates: Appropriately quoted for the purpose of commenting on other people's works is fair use. This is the same in Taiwan and mainland China, but is Gu Amo's quotation reasonable in terms of specific matters? At this time, it is not just a problem that the law can solve. Of course, on the one hand, the law may have some judicial interpretations. In addition, I think there may still be an economic issue to discuss, which is to see whether he will substantively substitute other people's works after commenting on other people's films. Users may watch the video for five minutes and no longer have to watch Harry Potter. In this case, it may be infringing."

In response to this issue, Gu Amo particularly emphasized,"My quotations only account for a small part of the original film, and I only intercepted one-tenth to one-percent of the original work content to explain it. I don't think anyone will think that after reading one-tenth or one-percent of the original work content, they will really feel that they have finished reading the original work!"

However, Lawyer You Yunting believes that the judgment cannot be based solely on the length of the quote, but on whether the key scenes are included."If I were the prosecution's lawyer, I would definitely connect the scenes in the entire script. Have he used all the key scenes in the video? If it was just a brief introduction, he should have reservations. Also for the defendant, what he may highlight is that it's not a substantive substitution, but a comment."

You Yunting gave an example that more than ten years ago, mainland netizens produced a short film "A Bloody Case Caused by a Steamed Bun", which complained about Chen Kaige's film "The Promise", which once triggered a lawsuit."Just like Chen Kaige's" The Promise ", its plot arrangement was problematic, and I exposed it through editing. This way of disclosure may only be achieved through editing. It was really a reference to this work for comment. In this case, I think that within the expression of freedom of speech, I think the court should rule him not to infringe rights, because this kind of situation should be tolerated."

Gu Amo specifically mentioned that all the short films he produced were broadcast free of charge, but You Yunting believed that this was not a factor in judging whether infringement was carried out."If these works are used without the permission of the copyright owner and do not constitute fair use, it is infringement. As for whether you have made a profit, that is only a criterion for determining the severity of the compensation. It does not mean that infringement can be exempted without charging."

Some commentators pointed out that although Gu Amo's videos are broadcast for free, he can earn profits through the influence he gains. His YouTube channel has nearly 1 million subscribers, and his account on the bilibili video network has more than 1.44 million fans. Among them, the YouTube channel has been closed several times due to suspected infringement, but Gu Amo said that YouTube is now on his side."For some of the reported videos, YouTube thinks that I comply with the principles of fair use of Internet copyright, so they will not delete my videos. They even send me letters. I am very happy."

However, Gu Amo also said that whether it is used reasonably and whether it is infringed must be determined by authoritative organizations. Taiwanese prosecutors said they would summon Gu Amo to explain in the near future.

Editor: Nancy