In November 2022, the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information urged Google to review and resolve the intellectual property dispute between Sconnect Vietnam (Sconnect) and Entertainment One UK Limited (EO) over the Wolfoo cartoon character series on YouTube. Despite this, Sconnect continues to report ongoing intellectual property infringements by EO on YouTube.

According to this agency, all trademarks and copyrights related to the Peppa Pig cartoon series were transferred from EO to Hasbro Consumer Products Licensing Limited (HCPL) effective September 1, 2023. However, Sconnect has pointed out that between September 1, 2023, and April 17, 2024, EO continued to claim ownership of the Peppa Pig trademarks and copyrights in its copyright complaints to YouTube, leading to the removal of Wolfoo videos. Sconnect accuses EO of dishonesty and overreach in reporting Wolfoo videos as copyright violations.

Given the complexity of the ongoing copyright infringement complaints involving Sconnect, EO, and HCPL, and pending court rulings, the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information has requested Google (YouTube) to:

- Carefully examine and verify the issues raised by Sconnect to ensure the legal rights and interests of the businesses involved.

- Cease accepting and approving baseless copyright strike requests against Wolfoo videos.

- Restore deleted Wolfoo videos and YouTube channels of Sconnect that were unjustly removed, locked, or blocked due to unfounded copyright claims.

The agency has asked Google to provide a timely response regarding the resolution of these issues.

This marks the second occasion the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information has issued a formal request to Google regarding the copyright dispute between the Wolfoo and Peppa Pig cartoon series, a conflict that has persisted since early 2022.

The Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information, the Copyright Office of Vietnam (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), and the Vietnam Digital Communication Association have previously requested Google and YouTube to reinstate Wolfoo channels and videos that were deleted, locked, or blocked from uploading new content pending court decisions in the UK and Vietnam, where the parties are currently suing each other.

Following interventions by Vietnamese authorities, YouTube has reopened dozens of channels previously restricted from uploading content. However, more than 4,000 Wolfoo videos that were removed have yet to be reinstated.

Thai Khang