Squid Games started a crackdown on copyright infringements, and hundreds of thousands of sellers’ funds were frozen!

The recent hit of a TV series called Squid Game has led to a series of hot sales of peripheral products. Many sellers have made a lot of money by seizing this wave of popularity, and many sellers are still interested in following suit. However, hot products always have a bad ending, because such products often hide great risks of infringement.

As expected, there have been news recently that Netflix, the copyright owner of the drama , has personally stepped in to protect its rights. Some sellers’ products have been removed from Amazon, and hundreds of thousands of balances in some sellers’ accounts have been directly frozen.

Squid Games started to complain, and some people received infringement emails

Recently, an Amazon seller received an email like this:

The email showed that Amazon received a report from the rights owner that one or more products sold by the seller were suspected of infringing on the intellectual property rights of others. Selling products that infringed on the intellectual property rights of others violated platform policies, so some products were removed from Amazon.

The contact information of the rights holder at the end of the email is netflixcounsel@gibney, and the American company Netflix is ​​the producer of the recently popular IP "Squid Game" TV series.

Section 101 and Section 201(b) of the U.S. Copyright Act define film works as works for hire. Screenwriters and producers form an employment relationship based on employment contracts. The producer as the employer is considered the author and enjoys the original copyright of the film work. European countries such as France and Italy also stipulate that the copyright of film and television works belongs to the producer.

The producer is the producer, which means that the copyright of "Squidward Fever" belongs to Netflix. Therefore, sellers of peripheral products of the show are very likely to receive copyright infringement complaints from Netflix like the sellers mentioned above.

It is understood that in terms of copyright, in addition to Netflix's own complaints, the platform is also conducting inspections, and there is also an online threat tracking company called BrandShield , which is also conducting batch inspections and complaints. The intensity of the complaints is very strong, and some sellers even said that they have received hundreds of infringement warnings in the background.

It is worth noting that in addition to copyright, Squid Game’s infringement minefield also includes trademarks.

Through the United States Patent and Trademark Office ( USPTO), we learned that multiple "Squid Game" word trademark applications have been submitted in the United States, all of which were filed between the end of September and the beginning of October, and all of the applicants were Chinese companies. The only company that submitted a graphic trademark application was Squid Games Inc. in San Francisco, California, and it was also the first to submit an application (September 20).

As we all know, the broadcast time of "Squid Game" is September 17, which means that after the TV series was broadcast, the "Squid Game" trademark was immediately registered.

Not only in the United States, "Squid Game" has also submitted a trademark application in South Korea. If their application is successful, sellers are likely to receive trademark infringement complaints when selling in these countries.

With hundreds of thousands of funds frozen in front of you, do you still want to sell it?

Amazon not only removed the products from the shelves, but also froze the funds in the infringing sellers' accounts. One seller said helplessly that the Squid Game-related products he sold were complained of infringement, and all the hundreds of thousands of funds in his account were frozen. The money he earned was almost the same as the frozen money, so this time he worked for nothing.

In fact, Squid Game has been defending its rights for some time. Recently, some public accounts of intellectual property rights, law firms, and industry media have reported and reminded, but now a large number of related products are still sold on major cross-border e-commerce platforms. When searching for "Squid Game", there are more than 1,000 results on Amazon US alone. Sales on 1688, a supply platform for cross-border sellers, are also very hot. When searching for "Squid Game", 50 pages of related products can be obtained.

Some people analyzed that the popularity of the peripheral products of "Squid Game" is not just due to the popularity of the TV series. The reasons include : 1. Traffic accumulation. Halloween shopping has begun, and the horror plot of "Squid Game" just fits the theme of the holiday; 2. Infringing products are generally not sold in large quantities, which just leaves the market for small and medium-sized sellers; 3. Popular IP will cause traffic to explode in the short term.

Seeing the popularity of peripheral products continue to soar, many sellers still want to take a bite of this tempting cake, but the example of frozen funds is right in front of them. Should they sell or not? The sellers are arguing.

The risk is too great, don't sell it:

“——Hot-selling products are risky. If you have a weak ability to resist risks, doing this is just courting death.

——This type of product not only has the risk of infringement, but the entire market is also severely out of stock. You may receive an account review email before the goods are shipped, and you are not sure whether you will make a profit or a loss.

——It’s too late to enter the market now. Not only have they started to crack down on infringements, but they’ve also started a price war. "

Fortune and wealth are sought in danger, so you must sell:

”——The bold ones will die of overeating, and the timid ones will die of starvation. Traffic means money to be made, so sell some first.

——This kind of traffic that suddenly becomes popular is for making quick money. You can use a small account to make a quick buck and then run away.

——Using an unstable account to sell is a gamble of luck. If the other party files an infringement complaint after you get the money, you have made a profit, but you just lost the account. "

The editor believes that selling infringing products violates platform policies and is risky. In addition to infringement, there are also risks such as deposits due to a surge in sales, refunds for Halloween sales, and refunds due to product quality. Therefore, sellers, including independent sites, should remove their products from the shelves as soon as possible if they are already selling, and those who are preparing to enter the market should give up this idea as soon as possible. Doing business is not gambling. If you want long-term development, you still have to be down-to-earth and operate legally and in compliance with regulations.

Keeping an eye on Netflix productions?

The popularity of the peripheral products of the TV series "Squidward Furious" produced by Netflix has given sellers an idea: in the future, they can just keep an eye on Netflix's unreleased works and stock up.

The editor here would like to remind you that this idea is not a good idea. Because the risk of infringement of the surrounding film and television dramas is very high, film and television production companies have always attached great importance to intellectual property protection, and Netflix is ​​no exception, and it is also an intellectual property "millionaire".

Relevant data shows that Netflix owns more than 4,000 copyrights and a large number of trademarks. According to a query from the USPTO, there are 50 in the United States alone.

What's more, Netflix has always been tough in cracking down on copyright infringements.

Last year, many sellers were caught in the trap and were complained of infringing the "La Casa de Papel" trademark, which is a trademark brand owned by Netflix. In addition, Stranger Things, which has been registered as a copyright and trademark by Netflix , is also the focus of its complaints.

Moreover, Netflix has now seen the power of popular dramas, and while defending its rights, it has also started selling goods. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal on October 11, Netflix will cooperate with Walmart to create a digital storefront on the retailer's website to sell goods related to popular dramas such as "Stranger Things" and "Squid Game".

In addition, in June this year , Netflix also launched its own e-commerce platform Netflix.shop, which specializes in selling peripheral products of its IPs. After the huge success of "Squidward Games", it also took the opportunity to launch a series of peripheral products.

Just imagine how much profit sellers can reap if Netflix attacks them from both sides?

Netflix

Squid Games

Infringement