Sconnect Media Looks to Protect Wolfoo Cartoon in the United States
Sconnect Media LLC is now considering legal procedures to protect Wolfoo's rights in the United States, including a lawsuit against Entertainment One.
Hanoi, Vietnam--(Newsfile Corp. - November 6, 2022) - The dispute between the Wolfoo cartoon series owned by Sconnect Media LLC (representing Sconnect Vietnam) and the TV show Peppa Pig, owned by Entertainment One UK LTD (eOne) has been going on since January, raising questions regarding copyrights policies.
Sconnect Media LLC is now considering legal procedures to protect Wolfoo's rights in the United States, including a lawsuit against Entertainment One.
"Wolfoo" is a cartoon series produced by Sconnect with around 2.700 episodes translated into 17 languages and distributed on Youtube, Facebook, Tiktok, television and online platform in many countries. Wolfoo has registered its trademarks and copyrights in Vietnam, the US, Russia, and many other countries since 2018.
Wolfoo cartoon characters by Sconnect Media
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Earlier in July, Sconnect won the suit filed by eOne in Moscow City Court.
According to eOne, Wolfoo's characters are the remake of Peppa Pig's and therefore violated their copyright. The Center for Forensic Expertise and Research ANO in Russia later dismissed this matter. They affirmed that Wolfoo characters set is entirely an independent creation and is not a reworked or derivative of Peppa Pig after a comparative analysis.
The court then terminated eOne's lawsuit and prevented them from filing similar cases against Sconnect in the future.
Despite this win, Youtube still approved eOne's request to delete Wolfoo videos. Locked from uploading new content, Wolfoo's monthly views dropped more than 60%, posing great damage to their subscriber rate, business reputation and financial results. Even though Sconnect made an effort to provide adequate proof and paperwork from the lawsuit, YouTube did not seem to consider revoking the decision.
Wolfoo cartoon post-processing at Sconnect's Studio
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Sconnect filed a lawsuit against eOne looking for compensation for the damage and fees caused by the case.
eOne again filed a case in the United Kingdom, but results will not be out until later in 2022.
In June 2022, Sconnect found that eOne used the Wolfoo keyword in many Peppa Pig videos since late 2018. eOne later admitted in the UK that they used the Wolfoo keyword in video and channel tags of Peppa Pig Youtube videos to attract viewers to the Peppa Pig series.
In August, Sconnect filed a case against eOne in Hanoi, Vietnam for illegally using Wolfoo's tags in Peppa Pig videos and demanded that eOne ends all exploiting actions. In September, Sconnect filed a second case regarding eOne's alleged impersonation of Wolfoo's owner and using technical measures that disabled Sconnect's business with Wolfoo.
The series of lawsuits attracted Vietnam and several international media for its scale. This is not the first time eOne brought a business to court due to copyright infringement.
The Vietnam Digital Communications Association (VDCA) recently defended Sconnect, saying that: "Ensuring fair business rights between the two sides is neccessary. Since the lawsuits have not been resolved, such action from YouTube may be considered unjust towards Wolfoo videos and Sconnect's business." According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Cuong, Vice President of VDCA, if Wolfoo videos are locked due to lawsuits in the U.K., then Peppa Pig videos in Vietnam lawsuits should also be locked by YouTube.
"Sconnect should also act immediately to protect Wolfoo's business rights in the United States," shared VDCA.
Wolfoo is one of very few made - in - Vietnam cartoon works to make a name in the global market, attracting more than 50 million viewers worldwide and reaching a peak of 3 billion views per month.
Media Contact:
Name: Tony Pham
Company: WOA Network
Email: [email protected]
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/143040