The Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) version of the theme song from the movie adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables used at a rally in Taiwan has infringed on Warner Music Group’s copyright on the song, the company’s music production arm, Warner-Chappell Production Music, said on Thursday.
The song, titled Do you Hear the People Sing?, was adapted into Hoklo by a doctor at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Hsinchu’s department of psychology, Wu Yi-cheng (吳易澄), and musician Wang Hsi-wen (王希文).
It was used during a mass protest on Aug. 3 by about 200,000 people demanding that the military reveal the truth about the death of an army corporal who allegedly died from abuse while doing his military service. The protesters also called for the government to push for better protection of human rights in the military.
Wu said he had tried to ask Warner/Chappell for the rights to use the song, but did not get a reply.
Kang-khioh Tai-gi Bun-kau Ki-kim-hoe Foundation director-general Chen Feng-hui (陳豐惠) said the foundation helped with the Romanization of Wu’s lyrics.
He added that although the foundation had originally posted the sheet music for the song on its Web site earlier this month, it took it down after only one day, but left the music on the site.
After receiving a telephone call from Warner-Chappell on Thursday warning of copyright infringement, the foundation responded by immediately deleting the file from its servers, Chen said.
The foundation added that, after receiving the warning, it would not continue spreading the song.
The foundation received the legal notice on Friday, Chen said, adding that the foundation and its lawyers would decide on how to respond to the notice.
According to Warner-Chappell’s lawyer in Taiwan, Hsu Tse-yu (徐則鈺), his company was only handing the notification to the foundation on behalf of Alain Boublil Music Ltd, the original publisher of the song in 1980.
Commenting on the issue, a spokesman for Citizen 1985, surnamed Liu (柳), said that Warner-Chappell’s warning was directed at Wu and Wang, and should have nothing to do with Citizen 1985.
Liu added that the group had paid Warner-Chappell for the rights to use the song on Aug. 3, adding that the group had legally been allowed and entitled to play the music that day.
Meanwhile, according to the Intellectual Property Office’s copyright division chief Chang Yu-ying (張玉英), the case can be divided into two parts — the changing of the music and publishing it online.
Under Articles 44 through 65 of the Copyright Act (著作權法), the principle was that though modification of music or lyrics must first be consented to by the original copyright owner, if such consent cannot be obtained, then the modification should be judged by the standard of whether it was “usage within reason,” she said.
As far as altering the music was concerned, since the music was used on the day of the rally, it could be judged under Article 55 of the act that it was used in the public interest and was within the parameters of “usage within reason.”
As for spreading the music online, the matter had to be judged as to whether it was being used for commercial gain or in an attempt to profit from its distribution, Chang said.
She added that it could also be judged as to whether such distribution has violated the copyright by how the distribution has actually impacted the original copyright owner.
Additional reporting by Rachel Lin, Lin Shih-ping and Chang Yi-ling
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
RSS