'YouTube does not comply with Vietnamese law'

On July 28th, Sconnect – the owner of the Wolfoo animated characters – sent a plea for help to Vietnamese authorities to assist in communicating with YouTube to stop accepting unfounded copyright claims from Entertainment One UK Limited in the United Kingdom – known as eOne or EO (owner of Peppa Pig) – and requested YouTube to restore over 3,000 Wolfoo videos that had been removed from the platform.

Immediately after Sconnect filed its appeal, on August 2nd, VDCA Chairman Nguyen Minh Hong signed a document addressed to the following agencies: the Department of Broadcasting, Television and Electronic Information ( Ministry of Information and Communications ), the Copyright Office (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), the Intellectual Property Office (Ministry of Science and Technology), and the National Competition Commission, requesting these agencies to review the relevant files on the copyright dispute between the two cartoon character sets, Wolfoo and Peppa Pig, in order to support and protect Vietnamese businesses in the digital environment when conducting international business.

At the same time, VDCA also requested that state management agencies require Google/YouTube and intermediary platform service providers to thoroughly and objectively review all relevant documents, complying with current Vietnamese laws and regulations to avoid causing harm to Vietnamese businesses while awaiting court rulings from the parties involved in the lawsuits.

On the same day, VDCA sent a letter to Google/YouTube requesting that the platform carefully consider the dispute, stop deleting/blocking Sconnect's Wolfoo video, and avoid causing harm to Vietnamese businesses while awaiting the ruling of the court in which the parties are suing.

The VDCA's letter to Google/YouTube states that, based on Sconnect's report and recommendations, the VDCA recognizes that the copyright dispute between Sconnect and Entertainment One UK Limited has been ongoing for a long time, with little progress towards resolving the case, significantly impacting Sconnect's business operations. The removal/deletion of over 3,000 Wolfoo video content from YouTube, based solely on EO's copyright report, is not in accordance with current Vietnamese legal procedures, specifically Article 114 of Decree 17/2023/ND-CP.

VDCA argues that Sconnect followed the correct procedure in providing notice of objection to the temporary removal or blocking of access to digital content, along with supporting evidence. Furthermore, Sconnect filed a lawsuit against EO at the Hanoi People's Court.

"Currently, the court has accepted and is in the process of resolving the case, yet intermediary service providers like YouTube are still deleting/blocking Sconnect's videos. This shows that YouTube has not complied with Vietnamese law," the VDCA's document sent to Google/YouTube clearly states.

VDCA always supports Vietnamese businesses in their production and business activities, ensuring compliance with Vietnamese law and international regulations and conventions to which Vietnam is a party. It also requires international businesses to comply with the laws of their host countries when operating in Vietnam. In the field of digital content creation in Vietnam, entities need to conduct fair competition and comply with the regulations in Government Decree 17/2023/ND-CP dated April 26, 2023, which details certain provisions and measures for implementing the Law on Intellectual Property regarding copyright and related rights.

Copyright dispute between Wolfoo and Peppa Pig

Since the beginning of 2022, Entertainment One (UK) – abbreviated as eOne or EO – has been involved in a copyright dispute over the Wolfoo character on YouTube. EO has repeatedly filed baseless copyright claims, causing YouTube to remove numerous Wolfoo videos. Since January 2022, EO has sued Sconnect in courts in both the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom.

In Russia, in July 2022, the Moscow court ruled that Wolfoo did not infringe copyright and prevented EO from pursuing a similar lawsuit. In November 2022, a Russian court ruled that EO had to partially compensate Sconnect for the legal costs of the lawsuit.

In the UK, the case is currently being handled by the High Court and has not yet been brought to trial.

In Vietnam, Sconnect filed two lawsuits against EO at the Hanoi People's Court starting in August 2022. The Hanoi Court is currently handling the cases and has not yet brought them to trial.

Sconnect filed a lawsuit against EO with the National Competition Commission of Vietnam, and the Commission is reviewing the dispute, initially determining that EO and YouTube show clear signs of violating the Competition Law.

Sconnect filed administrative complaints with state agencies including the Copyright Office and the Broadcasting and Electronic Information Department. These two agencies reviewed the case, and since October 2022, they have responded to YouTube in writing, requesting that YouTube not accept EO's copyright complaints, not delete or block Wolfoo videos while the courts are handling the case, and comply with Vietnamese law.

The dispute has dragged on for nearly two years, and no court has yet ruled that Wolfoo violated copyright. Sconnect has an advantage as a Russian court has ruled that Wolfoo did not infringe and ordered the plaintiff, EO, to pay compensation.

From July 2023, EO continued to claim copyright infringement against several background images and exclamation marks in Wolfoo videos, leading YouTube to remove over 3,000 Wolfoo videos. Despite attempts to appeal and file complaints with YouTube, there was no response. On July 28, 2023, Sconnect once again submitted a report and requested that Vietnamese state agencies intervene to protect Vietnamese intellectual property from unfair competition on YouTube.

EUIPO: EO's objection to the Wolfoo trademark is unfounded.

On July 28, 2023, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) issued a decision rejecting the objection filed by the Executive Office (EO) against Sconnect's Wolfoo trademark application in the EU. The EUIPO's reason for the rejection was that the EO failed to provide the necessary evidence regarding the credibility of the Peppa Pig trademark; therefore, the EO's objection was deemed unfounded. The EUIPO decision also did not delve into a detailed analysis of the grounds for its rejection. Thus, with the EUIPO's decision, Wolfoo is likely to be granted trademark protection in the EU.

Sconnect filed a trademark application for the word Wolfoo in the EU on April 6, 2022, and on September 7, 2022, EO filed an objection. On July 28, 2023, EUIPO officially rejected EO's first objection.

The Wolfoo brand has now been certified by intellectual property management agencies in Vietnam and Russia. Wolfoo was recognized by the Vietnam Intellectual Property Association as one of the Top 10 competitive brands in Vietnam for the years 2022 and 2023.

Regarding copyright, Wolfoo is granted copyright certificates for the entire set of characters, scripts, background images... in the US and Vietnam.

According to a market research report conducted by Asia Plus in September 2022, Wolfoo awareness in Vietnam is very high: Over 77% of parents with children aged 2-8 are familiar with the Wolfoo cartoon; 88% of children aged 2-8 are familiar with the Wolfoo cartoon.

Phuong Anh

Beneficial
Emotion
Creative
Unique
Wrath