In the latest argument between Wolfoo, owned by Vietnam’s Sconnect, and Peppa Pig, owned by Entertainment One (EO) UK Limited, Sconnect sent a report on July 28 to Copyright of Vietnam (COV) under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information (ABEI) under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), the National Competition Commission, and the Vietnam Digital Communications Association (VDCA).

Sconnect asked the four agencies to support discussions with Google and YouTube so the platforms would stop accepting unfounded claims made by EO. 

Sconnect Vietnam has asked Google to respect and observe Vietnamese laws, especially Article 114 in Decree 17/2023/ND-CP, by quickly restoring over 3,000 Wolfoo videos which have been removed from YouTube.

The copyright dispute between Wolfoo and Peppa Pig began in early 2022. The two parties have been suing each other in courts in Russia, the UK and Vietnam.

During the dispute resolution process, in September 2022, Sconnect Vietnam lodged petitions with four ministers (of Information and Communications; Culture, Sports and Tourism; Industry and Trade; Science and Technology) and the chair of VDCA, asking the agencies to protect Sconnect’s legitimate rights and interests which are being infringed upon on YouTube.

After handling the case, and thoroughly considering the documents and reports submitted by Sconnect, VDCA, ABEI and COV sent documents to Google and YouTube.

The three agencies asked Google to clarify matters mentioned by Sconnect in reports related to the dispute, for which no final decision by the courts has been made.

The agencies asked to restore Wolfoo videos and Sconnect’s YouTube channels which have been locked, and to remove the block of new content until the courts give a final judgment (Sconnect is suing EO in the Hanoi People’s Court and Vietnam National Competition Commission, while EO is suing Sconnect in the court in the UK).

According to Sconnect, after VDCA, EBEI and COV protested, YouTube restored some locked Wolfoo videos and resumed the right to upload 19 blocked YouTube channels. This helped ease difficulties faced by Sconnect since early 2023.

However, in early July, Sconnect once again discovered that EO abused intellectual property rights. 

Meanwhile, Google accepted a complaint from EO and continued to lock the content on many YouTube channels. It also removed the Wolfoo videos that it had opened before.

This violated regulation in Vietnam’s Decree 17 which says Google/YouTube can only remove Wolfoo videos owned by Sconnect when there is a valid judgment from the courts.

Sconnect opposes allegations

Sconnect has tried every possible way to discuss with YouTube, but has not received a reply, so it has once again asked for help from VDCA, COV, ABEI and the National Competition Commission.

According to Sconnect, since April 2023, EO has many times reported copyright violation on Sconnect Wolfoo videos, saying that Sconnect uses images of Peppa Pig videos in Wolfoo videos. 

Though EO could not show clear evidence to prove that Wolfoo videos illegally used the content and images of Peppa Pig videos, YouTube removed and erased more than 3,000 Wolfoo videos from the platform, causing serious losses to Sconnect.

In July 2023, EO stated that Sconnect used sounds from its Peppa Pig video for 18 Wolfoo videos. However, Sconnect argued that EO and YouTube could not show clear evidence about the use of the sounds.

Sconnect said the scenes and contexts in Wolfoo videos were created by Sconnect’s workers and the sounds were recorded directly from Vietnamese voice actors. The images and sounds were created based on materials and composition principles in accordance with Vietnamese laws.

“Therefore, EO's reporting of copyright infringement of scenes, backgrounds and sounds, and YouTube's acceptance of EO's reports to remove Sconnect's Wolfoo videos are both groundless and illegal, " lawyer Pham Van Anh, head of the legal department of Sconnect, said.

Thai Khang