---
title: "Within a Day, Dong Mingzhu and Nongfu Spring Both Entangled in Advertising Music Copyright Disputes"
description: "On June 23, musician Xiao Ke accused Gree Electric's 'Dong Mingzhu Self-Media' of unauthorized adaptation of his song 'Because of Love' for marketing, demanding 5 million yuan. The same day, indie musician Li Zhi accused Nongfu Spring of using his song without permission in an ad; Nongfu Spring apologized and paid 100,000 yuan in copyright fees the next day."
author: "New Distribution"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2016-06-26"
language: "en"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/C1qKfp8ov2YE7TyLGS8z6A"
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---

# Within a Day, Dong Mingzhu and Nongfu Spring Both Entangled in Advertising Music Copyright Disputes

> On June 23, musician Xiao Ke accused Gree Electric's 'Dong Mingzhu Self-Media' of unauthorized adaptation of his song 'Because of Love' for marketing, demanding 5 million yuan. The same day, indie musician Li Zhi accused Nongfu Spring of using his song without permission in an ad; Nongfu Spring apologized and paid 100,000 yuan in copyright fees the next day.

__ 董小姐 宋冬野 - 安和桥北
Years ago, "Miss Dong" was sung on every street, with everyone humming "I fell in love with a wild horse, but my home has no grassland." Years later, another "Miss Dong" ignited a copyright storm in the Chinese music circle.
On the evening of June 23, renowned musician Xiao Ke launched a rights protection battle on Weibo against Gree Electric's "Miss Dong," angrily accusing Gree's "Dong Mingzhu Self-Media" of privately adapting his song "Because of Love" for the marketing of Gree rice cookers, and demanding 5 million yuan in compensation.
Screenshot of Xiao Ke's Weibo
Screenshot of Xiao Ke's Weibo
After Xiao Ke posted two consecutive Weibo messages expressing anger, Gree only deleted the original article "Because of Love: Rice Cooker Edition" from "Dong Mingzhu Self-Media" without apologizing or responding. (The deleted text is shown below)
Screenshot from Dong Mingzhu Self-Media, source: Xiao Ke's Weibo
Screenshot from Dong Mingzhu Self-Media, source: Xiao Ke's Weibo
Early on June 24, Xiao Ke's music agency, Hua Yue Cheng Meng, issued an open letter on Weibo, stating that Gree Electric and Ms. Dong Mingzhu had used the song "Because of Love" without the copyright owner's permission, which constitutes copyright infringement.
Open letter from Hua Yue Cheng Meng, source: Xiao Ke's Weibo
"Because of Love" has also been adapted and spread by many netizens, but non-commercial adaptations are generally not pursued by musicians. However, adaptations for commercial promotion indeed disregard the copyright of musical works. "The right of attribution, the right of adaptation, and the right to protect the integrity of the work are the basic rights of authors," Gao Xiaosong voiced support for Xiao Ke on Weibo: "Infringing on all three rights at once is a bit too much."
The rights protection incidents were not isolated. On the afternoon of June 23, independent musician Li Zhi and his studio also spoke out on Weibo. Initially, Li Zhi's music studio partner @大肚迟 pointed out on Weibo that the first 30 seconds of the soundtrack of Nongfu Spring's 20th anniversary advertisement "The Island of One Person" were almost identical to Li Zhi's work "Summer on Shanyin Road," and it was unauthorized. Later, Li Zhi reposted the Weibo, asking peers how they would handle similar situations, hoping advertising companies and music peers would discuss together.
Compared to Gree, Nongfu Spring's crisis management was much better.
At 10 p.m. that night, Nongfu Spring apologized on Weibo and promised to pay 100,000 yuan in copyright fees the next day. This rapid response was hailed by netizens as "textbook public relations," and even nearly turned the crisis into a fan-attracting marketing move.
"This is very fan-attracting."
Although Nongfu Spring's quick compensation attitude was well received, the infringing music in "The Island of One Person" involved not only Li Zhi but also Liu Huyi, the composer of "Slowly Past," and his copyright company. Although they later also condemned Nongfu Spring on Weibo, these less famous rights holders did not cause much of a stir. As of the time of writing, Nongfu Spring had only responded to Li Zhi.
Screenshot of music critic Deng Ke's Weibo
Nongfu Spring and Gree's infringement of advertising background music is not a rare case in the industry. Of course, this is also related to the lack of clear regulations on infringement in the music industry. Although the industry generally uses "8 bars of similarity" as a standard for judging music plagiarism, there is no such provision in copyright law. Currently, the industry generally refers to Article 42 of the Copyright Law, which applies to general works: "Producers of audio and video recordings shall enjoy the right to license others to reproduce, distribute, rent, and disseminate to the public via information networks, and to receive remuneration; the protection period is fifty years, ending on December 31 of the fiftieth year after the first completion of the recording. Licensees who reproduce, distribute, or disseminate audio and video recordings to the public via information networks shall also obtain permission from the copyright owner and performers, and pay remuneration."
In the context of insufficient protection of music copyrights and imperfect laws and regulations in China, industry associations and copyright agencies initiated by various musicians play a relatively greater role, such as the Music Copyright Society of China established by the National Copyright Administration and the Chinese Musicians Association, as well as the music rights protection agency Hua Yue Cheng Meng mentioned in Xiao Ke's rights protection Weibo.
The road to music copyright protection is long and arduous. These two concentrated rights protection incidents may not maintain their heat for long, especially in the advertising and marketing circle where hot topics emerge endlessly. But for musicians, perhaps only by uniting can they protect themselves more effectively. @大肚迟's Weibo supporting Xiao Ke seems to give us a glimpse into the plight of copyright protection in the music industry.
Li Zhi's music studio partner @大肚迟 supports Xiao Ke
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