Some disheartening news passed by our desks earlier today. Shenzhen-based electronic musician Gavintoo has been embroiled in an IP dispute with one of China’s largest cosmetics companies, the L’Oreal-owned Yue-Sai. The root of the conflict is simple: Gavintoo discovered that Yue-Sai had appropriated, without a peep or hint of compensation, his original song “Si je t’aime” as the opening-credits theme in a web-only TV series produced by the company. In 2010.
At the beginning of April 2012, Gavintoo and his label, Mintelec Records, posted an open letter on their Sina Weibo accounts with the bold headline “Please Respect Musicians, Do You Understand?” In the letter, which has been re-posted almost 2000 times, Gavintoo details the dismissive treatment he received from both the cosmetics giant as well as the agency responsible for the campaign. When early inquiries to Yue-Sai were rebuffed, they upped the ante to cease & desist letters sent to both Yue-Sai and the production company. The letter concludes with a reiteration of their demands: remove the song from the web series and justly compensate the artist for the use of his creative property, as well as a general appeal for greater respect of musicians and their work.
Forgive us the cliché, but China is still the Wild West of copyright and intellectual property rights. Shanzhai knockoffs, software clones and blatant theft of creative property all thrive right now, and we’re not positive when that’s all going to change. When it’s this easy to go unnoticed for nearly 2 years, why would you?
The original post on Mintelec Records’ Sina Weibo:
The web series, Gui Mi Men (“Sweet Boudoir Door”): [Youku links not loading when we visited the site today]