Court rejects claim against livestream host

A woman who became an internet celebrity while using her cousin's livestreaming account and then transferred the account to her own name has been cleared of infringing virtual property rights by a court in Guangdong province.

The Guangzhou Internet Court ruled that she had added value to the account and brought in more followers and online views, rather than her cousin.

The court said she was the actual user of the account, adding that her action to change the account to her name did not infringe virtual property rights.

The case is believed to be the first in China involving livestreaming on someone else's registered account.

An earlier report in People's Court Daily said the host, Zhang Yi, had been running the account after her cousin, Wang Jia, registered it at Kugou Livestream in 2016.

Through years of effort by Zhang, the account attracted more than 300,000 followers and it became even more popular after Zhang received several honors from the internet platform for her outstanding performance, the report said.

On Jan 31 last year, Zhang applied to change the account to her name, which was accepted by the company that operated the platform, it said.

Wang was enraged by the move, claiming the company colluded with her cousin to infringe on her virtual property rights and interests, so Wang initiated a lawsuit to have the court transfer the account back to her name, it said.

But the court pointed out that Wang's action of lending the account to another person had breached an online agreement she signed with the company during registration, saying that in such a situation the company could stop the lender from using the account, it said.

Further, the numerous fans, the abundant online views and the fame of the account were all from Zhang's long-term hard work, so the court did not support Wang and dismissed her request, it added.

Feng Libin, a judge responsible for hearing the case, told People's Court Daily that resolving such a case will contribute to digital economic development, suggesting online platforms prohibit uncertified or improper transfers of web accounts and increase regular inspections of real-name identity registration to ensure users' online property rights.

China has stepped up efforts to protect new types of internet-related rights in recent years.

For example, the Civil Code stipulates that digital data or online properties can be guaranteed by a court, and a number of internet enterprises have also provided their own rules for users on how to safeguard and inherit online properties.