VNG sues TikTok for music copyright infringement

August 24, 2020 | 22:37

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VNG is suing TikTok, the Chinese short-form video platform, for not having sufficient licences for the songs being used in its videos.

vng sues tiktok for music copyright infringement

VNG has requested TikTok to remove all music taken from Zing records

VNG said TikTok used audio tracks owned by Zing, a VNG subsidiary, without the company's consent, two sources familiar with the issue told Reuters.

A legal document from the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City seen by Reuters seeks damages from TikTok and demands that it ceases the use of Zing's music.

"VNG requests TikTok to remove all music segments taken from Zing records from both the TikTok application and the website, and an indemnification for damages of over VND221 billion ($9.5 million)," read the document.

Founded in 2004 with less than 100 employees, VNG has grown to 3,100 employees in five countries. As Vietnam's first ever unicorn startup, VNG has developed a variety of products with tens of millions of active users such as Zalo, mobile wallet ZaloPay, entertainment platform Zing MP3, and news portal Baomoi.

Meanwhile, TikTok has become famous in Vietnam, garnering 10 million users as of August, with millions of short-clips uploaded to the platform, according to official data.

However, some music rights-holders say TikTok does not have adequate licences for the songs being used in its videos.

"TikTok has introduced a very complicated business model to avoid copyright compliance in Vietnam," the Vietnam Music Association said in a response to questions from Reuters.

By Thanh Van

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