Cctv news(Reporter/edited by Lu Yang/edited by Yang Wei/Kan Chunyu): "I saw someone on the second-hand platform ‘ Millet ’ And ate it hard. When the delivery date was agreed, the owner could not be found, and more than 600 people were cheated in the group. " This passage comes from the lightning protection post of "Eat Valley" provided by an insider to CCTV News+reporter, in which "Millet" (transliteration of goods) refers to the derivative periphery of animation IP, such as cards, badges, acrylic cards, etc. Buying these periphery is called "Eat Valley". According to statistics, in the past year, the interaction of social media about "eating millet" and "millet" exceeded 1.1 billion times, and there were more and more discussions about the price of "millet" and the dispute over "millet circle".
Dubbed as a "small broken tin box", official website sells for about RMB in 40 yuan, but popular IP figures can be sold for 20,000 yuan per respondent.
Instead of buying, it is difficult to protect rights across borders, and the cold storm under the upsurge of "millet"
Whenever I want to buy some rare "millet", Juanjuan, who has more than ten years of experience in buying around animation, will pay attention to whether anyone posts a group. "After adding the group number, I can place an order in the WeChat link provided by the group owner. They have some internal channels." As "Rare Valley" is hard to buy in official website, the business of assembling hundreds of people to help people buy from overseas is also growing.
Different from ordinary commodities, "millet" adopts the pre-sale system, and it takes at least three months to six months from production and purchasing to domestic packaging and delivery. "But sometimes you can’t wait," Juanjuan told CCTV’s "News+"reporter that it is not a rare thing to buy a road in the "Valley Circle". "If you wait, you can’t find a purchase, but the second-hand platform or micro-store will automatically confirm the receipt when the order arrives."
The reporter of CCTV News+learned that in 2023, a large-scale "purchasing and running" incident occurred in the "Valley Circle". A group owner named "Millet Shop" collected more than 200,000 yuan in payment for more than 600 people, but it was not delivered in one year. "Members buy less than one or two hundred yuan, and more than one or two thousand yuan." The affected group members told the reporter, "Purchasing ‘ Millet ’ Whether it can reach your hands or not depends on trust and conscience. "
In the face of purchasing money, the victims can only expose the payment accounts that send lightning protection posts and ban purchasing, but it is difficult to really recover the losses. This is mainly because the loss of each person who "eats the valley" in the group is not large. "Two or three hundred people have been cheated, and the police can’t help it." And if you want to gather people from all over the world to defend their rights together, the attribution of the case is another problem.
The insider told the reporter of CCTV News+that it has been more than a year since the 600-member "Millet" group was cheated. At first, members would go to the police station near their home to call the police and pull a small group to discuss ways, but they found that the solution was hopeless, and they would not be able to do it. In the year when she continued to pay attention to the progress, she found that there were more and more tricks for purchasing the money. Using fake identities, pretending to pull back the refund group, and telling the members that they were "working for repayment" all reduced the incident to an economic dispute by showing their willingness to repay. "But in any case, they just don’t pay back the money, and they can only see more and more lightning protection posts and hanging posts."
"Millet" puzzle, purchasing lightning protection stickers/provided by respondents
Lawyer Lu Yun of Beijing Yihe Zhonghong Law Firm said that purchasing is an entrusted civil legal relationship, and the act of collecting money may constitute unjust enrichment, fraud or contract fraud. "Not only will the criminal responsibility of the purchaser be investigated, but also the civil losses of consumers will be compensated. In the aforementioned case, the loss of more than 200,000 yuan of the 600-member group has reached the standard of filing a case. Consumers can collect relevant evidence, such as purchase records, payment vouchers and related chat clues, and report the case to the public security organ. "
In addition to the malicious "rolling bills", there are also cases where "millet" was seized by the customs because of suspected illegal smuggling when purchasing. According to the Measures of People’s Republic of China (PRC) Customs on the Supervision of Luggage and Articles of Inbound and Outbound Passengers, when the total value of articles taken abroad by inbound residents exceeds RMB 5,000, they need to declare to the customs. The group of hundreds of people is often hundreds of thousands of big orders, and the number of cards, acrylic cards and pendants will easily exceed 1000.
If it is 13% per piece & mdash; Calculated by the import tax rate of 20%, the profits generated by purchasing without declaring customs duties according to the process and taking risks without telling the members are quite rich. Juanjuan told CCTV’s "News+"reporter that the group suspected of smuggling often has both money and goods, and the owner of the group is punished, the store is gone, and the goods are broken. "Only the group members are left, and hundreds of dollars to buy grain are wasted."
"Millet" purchasing failed to declare suspected smuggling/official Weibo of the General Office of the General Administration of Customs
According to the "Regulations on the Implementation of Administrative Punishment of People’s Republic of China (PRC) Customs", whether the entry around animation involves smuggling should be judged according to the content, quantity, amount and whether a deposit is charged. Generally speaking, the animation surrounding which is declared according to laws and regulations and does not involve contraband can enter the country according to the procedures, but it is illegal to bring the animation surrounding which involves pornographic content into the country. According to the judgment documents, in 2021, Guangzhou Customs Anti-smuggling Bureau investigated and dealt with Li Moumou’s purchase and sale of 1,550 prohibited animation books, sentenced him to 11 years’ imprisonment, fined him 200,000 yuan, and confiscated and destroyed all smuggled goods.
Lawyer Lu Yun said that purchasing "millet" from overseas needs to comply with the relevant laws and regulations in People’s Republic of China (PRC). "It may not only be the legal responsibility of the trustee to bring contraband into the country illegally, but also his behavior will be held accountable for the client."
Regulations on the Implementation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) Customs Administrative Punishment/Source: China Government Network
Copyright Boundary of Secondary Creation: Prosperity and Risk of Millet Production
With the business model of "millet" trading becoming more and more mature, the front-end design and production market has also formed a spontaneous industrial chain. Hua Hua, a post-00 interviewee, told the reporter of CCTV News+that in the half year when she was most addicted to buying grain, she only left herself money for eating, and all the rest of the money was changed. However, because "millet" became more and more expensive, she had to start a "millet business" while "eating millet".
Because of their love for common anime characters, Huahua hit it off with a Malaysian painter, who designed it, contacted domestic manufacturers to customize it, and then opened a group online to sell it. In more than three months, their small team put on the shelves a badge from 12 yuan, a key chain from 18 yuan, and an acrylic board &hellip for more than 30 yuan; … More than 6,000 pieces were sold. Huahua, as a middleman in this business, can draw 1— 2 yuan’s dividend, and the painter, as the main designer, can draw 5— 6 yuan.
Group management announcement/provided by respondents
After tasting the sweetness of "millet business", Huahua also contacted a Korean painter to cooperate. He once had an explosive design of bronzing tickets, which was exquisite in style and distinctive. However, I didn’t expect that because the order link broke through 30,000 orders, "too many people bought it, which made him feel scared", and the Korean painter quickly closed the store. Huahua told CCTV News+that the design and production of "Millet" belongs to a gray area, and there may be economic disputes caused by copyright. "It is profitable, but it has nothing to do with the original author, so I don’t want to make it too big."
As a re-creation of the original animation works and character IP story lines, the copyright issue of "Fan Gu" has always been controversial, that is, it is still unknown whether the painter will be held accountable for commercial profits without the explicit authorization of the original production company.
Because painters play the most important role in the whole production chain and get the highest dividend, more and more fans are trying to get a piece of it. Although in the community discussion, some artists laughed at themselves that "producing grain" must "check the publishing law, beware of reporting, beware of searching", but "millet" lovers usually acquiesce that the copyright of the second creation belongs to the painter.
So does the "established practice" in this practice work? The reporter of CCTV News+consulted Professor Yao Linqing, an expert on copyright research in school of economics and management, Communication University of China. She said that this tacit understanding in the market is mainly related to the "win-win" between painters and IP companies. Because the painter’s second creation can greatly enhance the exposure and popularity of the original works, the copyright holders of IP original works often acquiesce in the spread of such works as a kind of free publicity.
"But if the commercial profit of the painter in the process of secondary development is large to a certain extent, or the adapted patterns and designs infringe the copyright of the original works, then the IP producer still has the right to sue the other party for infringement." It is understood that since 2024, a number of second-time bloggers of a video platform have been sued by the original video copyright party, demanding compensation ranging from 100,000 yuan to 1 million yuan. In 2021, there was also a precedent that stickers and puzzles made by a arts and crafts company in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province were sued by the animation copyright party for copyright infringement, and Professor Yao Linqing said: "From this perspective, ‘ Millet ’ The second creation still has legal risks. "
Copyright Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) (revised in 2020)/Source: China Government Network
Professor Ma Zhonghong believes that although there are some temptations and disorderly behaviors in the buying and selling, design and production of "millet", the consumption of "millet" by young people can also be regarded as a "growing consumption preference".
So how to understand this growth? Professor Ma Zhonghong explained that, firstly, the information gathering ability of "Millet" fans has grown. They will collect past lives of IP characters, dig it out with Excel or big data, and tell it clearly. In order to get closer to the people they like, they will learn to draw, Cosplay and make props by hand, and then they will shoot, retouch and write a copy. Finally, "Deep familiarity ‘ Millet ’ Cultural people are very likely to transform into practitioners in the fashion, entertainment and cultural industries in the future, helping our cultural industry to keep pace with the times and connect with the international community. " Professor Ma Zhonghong believes that while being alert to the chaos in the "Valley Circle", encouraging young people to pursue personalized cultural production with their own consumption preferences can only promote the healthy and sustainable development of the cultural industry.
