Copyright dispute costs Vietnamese YouTube producer tens of millions of USD

DNHN - Currently, Sconnect is filing requests with the People's Court of Hanoi and the UK Court, asking eOne to compensate for damages caused by impersonation and copyright strikes on YouTube.

On June 12, 2024, Sconnect submitted a report to the Copyright Office (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) and the Department of Broadcasting and Electronic Information (Ministry of Information and Communications) to update the latest developments in the copyright dispute between the character Wolfoo (owned by Sconnect Vietnam) and Peppa Pig (owned by Entertainment One UK Limited, abbreviated as eOne) from February 2024 to June 5, 2024.

According to Sconnect's report, eOne has not owned Peppa Pig since September 2023 and filed for withdrawal from the UK High Court case on April 17, 2024. However, as of June 3, 2024, eOne continued to issue copyright strikes against Wolfoo videos on YouTube. Currently, Sconnect is filing requests with the People's Court of Hanoi and the UK Court, asking eOne to compensate for damages caused by impersonation and copyright strikes on YouTube, causing Sconnect tens of millions of USD in losses.

The copyright dispute between "Wolfoo" and "Peppa Pig" began in January 2022 when eOne filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Sconnect in the UK High Court. Sconnect participated in the legal proceedings in the UK. To date, the UK Court has not issued a final judgment on the case and has not concluded whether Wolfoo infringed on copyright.

Since February 2022, eOne has used the UK lawsuit to continuously issue copyright strikes against Wolfoo videos on YouTube, leading to over 4,000 Wolfoo videos being locked/deleted. At times, YouTube even suspended the upload rights of dozens of Wolfoo channels, causing significant losses to Sconnect.

Since the unjust copyright strikes on YouTube from January 2022 to now, Sconnect estimates monthly losses of about 1 million USD.

While the dispute remains complex, at the end of 2023, the parent company of eOne, HASBRO, INC. (a multinational corporation headquartered in the UK), confirmed that eOne no longer held ownership of Peppa Pig as per a transfer agreement effective from September 1, 2023.

Specifically, on December 27 and December 28, 2023, trademark registration sites and websites of eOne, Hasbro, and Lionsgate (a multinational corporation headquartered in the US) simultaneously confirmed the completion of the transfer of all trademarks and copyrights related to the Peppa Pig animated series from eOne to a subsidiary of Hasbro, Hasbro Consumer Products Licensing Limited (hereinafter referred to as Hasbro), effective September 1, 2023.

Previously, the parent company of eOne, Hasbro Inc., agreed to transfer all of eOne to Lionsgate, but Hasbro Inc. retained Peppa Pig, and eOne transferred all trademarks and copyrights of Peppa Pig back to Hasbro.

Notably, according to Sconnect, after no longer holding ownership of Peppa Pig, from September 1, 2023, to before April 17, 2024, eOne continued to claim ownership of the Peppa Pig trademark and copyright through various actions: declaring in an amended lawsuit filed in the UK Court in September 2023, declaring in complaints about Wolfoo videos infringing on Peppa Pig's copyright on YouTube, and declaring in documents sent to Sconnect's lawyers.

"To date, all evidence and eOne's admissions clearly confirm that eOne no longer holds ownership of Peppa Pig. Despite this, eOne has yet to prove which original works were infringed and what rights eOne holds over Peppa Pig videos. eOne is also trying to evade responsibility by seeking to replace the plaintiff with Hasbro. In light of this new development, Sconnect is consolidating evidence and requesting the UK Court to order eOne to compensate Sconnect for deceiving the Court and the defendant," said Pham Van Anh, Head of Legal at Sconnect.

In February, eOne's "baseless strikes" caused many of Sconnect's channels and videos to be removed from the platform. Some were later reviewed and reinstated by YouTube. However, as of June 3, many Wolfoo videos were deleted by YouTube due to eOne's complaints. "This is an act of impersonation", Sconnect's representative said.

YouTube has not commented. In an email response to Sconnect in March, the platform stated it "has no role in mediating rights disputes or determining copyright ownership between parties." YouTube encourages parties to resolve issues in court and will act based on the court's decision. Lawsuits in the UK and Vietnam are still unresolved.

"Given eOne's copyright infringements causing severe damage to Sconnect's legal rights and interests, and eOne's attempts to withdraw from involvement in global lawsuits, this seems like an effort to evade legal obligations and responsibilities. However, Sconnect remains willing to negotiate and settle the dispute with eOne and Hasbro globally," added Mr. Ta Manh Hoang, General Director of Sconnect.

Founded in 2014, Sconnect specializes in producing videos for social platforms. Sconnect's Wolfoo YouTube channels feature dozens of channels, released worldwide in 20 languages. Meanwhile, Peppa Pig, developed by a British artist, was created in 2004 and broadcast as a television series before being available on social platforms.

Tu Anh