Violation of the Fair Trade Law by Shang Ming Media Company for false advertising of compact disc products
Chinese Taipei
Case:
Violation of the Fair Trade Law by Shang Ming Media Company for false advertising of compact disc products
Key Words:
audio publications
Reference:
Fair Trade Commission Decision of September 30, 1998 (the 360th Commission Meeting); Disposition Ref. (87) Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 228
Industry:
Audio publication business (8391)
Relevant Laws:
Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law
Summary:
Shang Ming Media Company (the respondent) is the company existing after the company name change from "Wen Na" to "Shang Ming." The fact that its business registration number and the responsible person were not changed shows that the legal personality of the company by either name remains the same. If the respondent violates the Fair Trade Law (FTL) and is ordered to cease or correct its actions but fails to do so, the Fair Trade Commission (this Commission) may successively impose sanctions against the respondent per instance of the respondent's failure to comply.
The subject compact disc product (CD product) is a re-make of songs originally performed by Celine Dion and Mariah Carey. The front side and the profile side of the packaging case is labeled "Best Collection by the Heavenly Queens: Celine Dion vs. Mariah Carey / Titanic vs. Butterfly." These two artists' photos were shown on the cover and the back of which listed titles of certain songs originally performed by them. "This album is a re-make. The photos are used to describe the content only" (the "re-make" representation) is lebaled at the lower right-hand corner of the back cover and in a font smaller than font No. 8. It is difficult for the average consumer to recognize the CD product as a re-make by such labeling. On the contrary, the consumer is easily misled into believing that the songs contained in the CD product are recorded by the two artists as shown in the photos. The respondent argues the CD product bears the "re-make" label and the price is greatly different from the price for the original recording by the two artists. But the investigation shows that as the "re-make" is merely labeled in a very small font on the lower right-hand corner of the packaging, it is difficult for an ordinary consumer paying average attention or even very careful attention to recognize (the disclaimer). In addition, an overall impression of the CD product's packaging does not adequately serve to identify that the content is a re-make. Even though the consumer may notice the "re-make" label, he or she may mistakenly believe that the re-make was recorded by the two artists. Therefore, we find the labeling of the CD product involves false, untrue and misleading representation.
In conclusion, the respondent is found in violation of FTL Article 21(1) which prohibits an enterprise to make any false, untrue, or misleading representations on goods.
The respondent was previously sanctioned by this Commission (Decision of December 4, 1992, Disposition Ref. (81) Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 052) with an order to recall and correct the packaging of its products, the "K'ou Shui Songs" Collections I, II, and III. The respondent was also ordered to refrain from making the same or similar false representations. Given this case where the respondent has violated the orders given in the previous disposition, the respondent is imposed a fine of NT$100,000 in accordance with the last portion of FTL Article 41.
Summarized by Yin, Shih-Hsi
Supervised by Wu, Ting-Hung
Appendix:
Shang Ming Media Company’s Uniform Invoice No.: 21351993