Today something really sad happened to the BJD hobby, and I will contribute to defend the artists that make this hobby. BJD recaster Luo has registered several brands in China, and possible in Europe, and he is also attempting to do so in USA.
What does this means for the original artists? Luo can blackmail them, but as he now own these brands (even the original logos!) the recast dolls can no longer be removed from online selling platforms, and he can even sue the artists.
I got information from @puffypuffers on Instagram, Nuria Torres from MerryDollRound, and @f15doll also on Instagram. Everything is under the cut, so please go ahead and read it.
This post has also been translated to Thai by the lovely Ann on Flickr.
Issue Summary
First, here is a post from the Dollfie Dream Facebook group, explaining what happened. You can click the image to enlarge it:
Affected Brands
So far, the artists and companies that are affected, are: Idealian, LutsBJD, Marina Bychkova, Dollshe Craft, Kreamdoll, Doll'n'Doll, Chicabi Doll, Pukifee, Feeplee, Peak's Wood, Iplehouse, Realfee, DolkBJD, Littlefee, Monochrome, Code Noir, Bambicrony, Alchemical Labo, Neo-Angel Region, DollBom, Chica Bonita, RAMCube, Dearmine, Napi, Cocoriang, Migidoll, Dara, Sadol, RSDoll, BlueFairy, April Story, Aileen Doll, RSDoll, Lyllycat, MYouDoll, Withdoll, Lina Chouchou, Irrealdoll, Monodee, Dollpamm, Leekeworld, Little Monica, IBJDD, Dollmore, Souldoll, Shugo Fairy, Crobidoll, Rosenlied, Dolltown, Doll Soom.Those are 49 brands, not dolls, brands of dolls. You can look them up here. That link is an official website from China, so the list you see there is sadly true. Here you have a screenshot:
EDIT 2018/04/26: I've been told on Instagram (read comments here) that the "Queneif" brand is his own brand -the one Luo uses for selling his recasts.
Possibilities
Nuria Torres from MerryDollRound, sent me the following email. Since it is in Spanish, I'm translating in after the image.
Hello!
I've been talking again with my relative [who works with trademarks] and I have cleared up several points.
Luo has registered a considerable amount of brands in China. He has also registered the brands of Fairyland, Iplehouse, Dollshe Craft and Queneif (I don't know this last one) in the EU and USA records. To do this, he has come into contact with legal representatives (these can be layers or family member) to represent him in said zones. It is clear that Luo is farming gold with recasts, as each record, in the EU, costs around 1000 Euros.
Now, the fact that he registered these is not an issue until the complaint period has ended. In this case -as my relative has checked- it is the 30th of this month [April 2018]. If by the 30th there has been no complain, those records will be published and the brands are his.
As I have been informed, the last option would be for original brands to present a legal case, and to prove that Luo has copied them, and registered the brands with a criminal intent, but to win these cases is very hard and they imply expensive trials.
This implies several issues. As we have checked, none of the original brands had registered the name not in the USA not in EU, so they cannot present a complaint, and on April 30th, the brands will be Luo's. The same happens with the brands recorded in China: if the originals were not previously recorded, they cannot present a complaint.
What effect does this have? When an original artist/company presents a claim on Ebay/Taobao/Aliexpress, Luo can argue that the brands are his, and prevent him from having to remove the dolls.
What options are left to prevent the recasts? To record the designs of each sculpt. I think that, on an EU level (or Spanish, I am not sure), the registration cost is around 350 Euros.
I hope this is worthy!
Regards,
Nuria.
There is also the following information, provided by @f15dolls to @puffypuffers. I have linked their names to the original posts, which have posted screenshots of the original Chinese websites:
Legal Fightback
EDIT 2018/04/26: @f15dolls has told me that apparently, some companies are making a group to stand a legal fight. They are doing so with ADoll, the Chinese Dealer previously mentioned. They are also looking for layers specialized in trademarks.EDIT 2018/04/27: Apparently, the first to inform about Luo's moves was Engodoll, the Chinese dealer from Little Monica. You can check the hashtag #thankyouengodoll and #downwithluoligui on Instagram -just click the links, you don't need an account to see it.
Some companies are also making statements about this. Here I made a screenshot from Luts Doll's statement, and you can read it here.
Edit 2018/04/28: I contacted several artists and brands I have purchased from or interviewed. Many of them were not aware of the issue (especially some EU people). However, this is Withdoll's answer:
Also, Jessica from Geminick Creations, a BJD maker who was also part of the Sweedish BJD Con Jointed Hearts, made an statement on YouTube. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/RQCzbCZZo_c
EDIT 2018/04/29: Here it is a screenshot from ADoll's Weibo (https://www.weibo.com/adollshop). As it is in Chinese, I'm posting the translations that are made public on Menae's Tumblr (link here). If anyone can make better translations, please let me know, so I can update the post.
First post translated, 25.4., 10:56:
Regarding the malicious registration of pirates by pirate traders, Wadao has been watching and following up since yesterday.
At present, Wadao has communicated with the agency that owns the agency rights. At the same time, it began to look for experts and lawyers in related fields to consult with them and strive to take effective actions as soon as possible to cope with the current situation. (At present, it is planned to focus on dealing with the industrial and commercial registration part, raise objections to the publicity period, invalid registration of successfully registered applications, and register their own trademarks as soon as possible to enhance self-protection.)
If there are other parents who share common aspirations or have relevant professional knowledge, please feel free to contact us. Although there are many issues that cannot be answered promptly, there is definitely a response from Nakajima.
The trademark is also misappropriated.
Then, 25.4 .,18:23:
So far, it has been determined that Doll Heart will unite with ADoll to solve the problem: DearMine, Nine9, Scretdoll, Cocoriang, Chicabi, TTYA, KukuClara, LatiDoll….
Last, 26.4., 7:50:
Fl fan group: fairyland will not forget, ADoll main agent brand, Fairyland will be responsible for the trademark [fuel] @ Doll Island Adoll: So far determined to unite with fairyland community together to solve the club : DearMine, Nine9,
Scretdoll, Cocoriang, Chicabi, TTYA, KukuClara, Latidoll….Hope that Korean businessmen are getting more and more inflated…
And sadly, here is Dollpamm statement. I wrote an email to several companies warning them about this issue, and this is their answer:
EDIT 2018-05-03: Yesterday I got an answer from Cocoriang, and here is the email screenshot:
Personal Statement
I apologize for such a disorganized post, but I wanted to share this with you all. I know many of you don't use Instagram or may not follow specific people, so I wanted to contribute to spread this. However, I want to be clear: all the thieves -because that is what they are: THIEVES- that bought recasts dolls under any excuse, have supported this. And all of the people who kept "neutral" to "not be a bully", also supported this.There is only one "good" side on this: being pro-artist and standing with the artists. And I'm there. So to any thieves and "neutrals" out there: no, you are not part of this hobby. You straightforward contributed to what could be its downfall. Please remove yourself from my blog, as I don't what to have anything with you.
If you have any additional info about this, please let me know. I'm blocking the comments on this entry, and I hope you understand why. If you want to contact me, you have my email and my social medias.
