Hot Topic: Su Daqiang's expression packs are wildly popular and sweeping the screen, but be careful about copyright infringement if you use them improperly!
Recently, the popular TV series "All Is Well" aired on a certain TV station, and the cartoon character images based on Su Daqiang, which subsequently became popular on social media, have been widely shared.
Modern Express News (Reporter Ji Yu) Su Daqiang, the "difficult" old father in the TV series "All Is Well," frequently tops the Weibo hot search list. Recently, Su Daqiang's emoticons have become popular online. Shrewd businesses have seized this wave of popularity, launching real estate versions, coffee shop versions, car versions, nursing home versions... However, emoticons cannot be used indiscriminately; be careful of infringement.
△ Screenshot of Weibo post by the well-known anime blogger @Mario Xiaohuang showing a real-person emoticon
Su Daqiang emoticons have been photoshopped into various versions
Recently, the well-known anime blogger "@Mario Xiaohuang" posted Su Daqiang-style "all kinds of difficult" emoticons on their social media. "I won't eat, I won't drink, I want money," "It's not my fault," "What face do I have to live on?"... With his big eye bags, yellow vest, and classic lines, the emoticons immediately resonated with fans of the show, and netizens shared them widely.
With the emoticons' popularity, shrewd businesses saw the opportunity and followed suit, launching real estate versions, coffee shop versions, car versions, and nursing home versions of Su Daqiang emoticons.
"@Mario Xiaohuang" later drew emoticons of Su Mingzhe, Su Mingcheng, and Su Mingyu, but the most popular and widely shared are still the Su Daqiang emoticons.
Can real-person emoticons be used casually?
Modern Express reporters learned that eLong.net was once ruled to have infringed copyright by a court for using the "Ge You Lying Down" emoticon on Weibo. The court ruled that eLong.net should publicly apologize on its Weibo and compensate Ge You for economic losses and reasonable expenses for rights protection, totaling 75,000 yuan.
Similarly, there is the photo of Wang Sicong eating a hot dog at the IG championship. Soon, Wang Sicong applied for a patent for his cartoon image eating a hot dog. Any use of his emoticons for commercial purposes is considered infringement.
Regarding the copyright dispute over the Su Daqiang emoticons, "@Mario Xiaohuang" also spoke out, stating that the Su Daqiang emoticons are fan works of the TV series, so she doesn't want to steal the spotlight and isn't considering copyright issues.
Lawyer: Infringement or not? First, look at the use, second, look at the copyright
Zhang Jun, a lawyer at Jiangsu Zhongshan Mingjing Law Firm, said that for Ni Dahong, the actor who plays Su Daqiang in the TV series, if his image is made into an emoticon and shared among friends without insulting content, it does not constitute infringement. However, if the emoticon is used for commercial purposes and profit, it may constitute an infringement of portrait rights.
Lü Xin, a lawyer at Jiangsu Lou Shen Law Firm, said that if someone uses the emoticon against the author's wishes, it constitutes copyright infringement. Even if the cartoonist does not consider copyright, the TV series production company or screenwriter has the right to protect intellectual property rights and can claim rights against businesses for infringement.
Source: Modern Express
