While the world marvels at the first black hole picture published on April 10, China’s largest stock images provider, Visual China Group draws fire for claiming to own its copyright. “This is an editorial image. Please call us or consult our customer service representative for commercial use,” said a note for the black hole image on VCG’s website.

The incidence soon set off a chain reaction. The same afternoon, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Youth League remarked on its official Weibo account, “Does your company also own copyrights to the national flag and national emblem?” VCG’s trademark content ranges from technological companies like Baidu, all the way to Phoenix New Media, with VCG’s watermark added on the original ones.

VCG’s founder, Chai Jijun once claimed in his Wechat moment that VCG owned the editorial licence of the black hole picture granted by its partner. This image licence was not exclusive and was required for editorial purposes only. Any commercial use was prohibited without permission.

On the contrary, the official website of the Southern European Observatory clearly states that anyone can freely distribute, spread and modify the picture, only if the original source is clarified and the picture is not used for commercial purposes, and no additional restrictions are added. The European Southern Observatory responded that Visual China’s copyright claims were illegal, and ESO had never been transferred their image copyrights to any other individual organization.

Government intervention soon followed on the heels of online criticisms. On April 11, the Office of the Cyberspace Affairs Commission in Tianjin ordered the site to end its illegal practices. Shortly after the conversation, VCG apologized in a company statement on Weibo, promising that it would revamp in accordance with the orders of regulatory authorities. At present, VCG has been shut down.

Source: jiemian.com

April 12, 2019

photo from: china.com