Pop star Jay Chou sues NetEase for giving away albums in video game promotion, citing ‘unfair competition’
- Jay Chou’s company claims that the NetEase campaign led users to mistakenly believe the online game had a ‘specific connection’ with Chou and JVR Music
- The three defendants are NetEase’s two affiliates in Hangzhou and Guangzhou, as well as Leihuo, its in-house gaming studio
Chinese video gaming giant NetEase stopped streaming Jay Chou’s songs five years ago, but it is now being sued by the Taiwanese pop star for giving away his songs as part of a video game promotion.
The Taiwanese artist and his music production company JVR Music are taking three NetEase affiliates to court over “unfair competition”, according to a recent notice published on the official website of the People’s Court of Hangzhou Binjiang district, where NetEase is headquartered. The case will be heard on April 17.
The lawsuit arose after Tianxia III, a multiplayer online game developed by NetEase, last year gave away Chou’s albums and concert tickets in a promotional campaign, Chinese media The Paper reported on Monday.
The Taipei-based company said the campaign led users to mistakenly believe that the online game had a “specific connection” with Jay Chou and JVR Music, according to the report.
In a separate statement published last July on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, JVR Music said Tianxia III and the NetEase campaign “had no connection” with Jay Chou.