Fluffy is a word counterfeiters will not be using for CLKO Entertainment, owner of the cartoon bunny known as Mashimaro that has become a phenomenon throughout China.
“No businesses operating in the name of Mashimaro in China has obtained a license from us. We are going to file lawsuits over the large-scale infringement of our rights,” announced Choi Seung Ho, president of the company, last Sunday.
Mashimaro, a dumpy, white rabbit with narrow eyes, began life as the star of popular flash animations created in South Korea in 1999. The character quickly became a hit with people of all walks of life. Children and adults downloaded animated shorts from websites and the rabbit’s image showed up on bags, cups, toys and many more surprising items. Many Chinese refer to Mashimaro by nicknames such as “weird rabbit” or “bad rabbit.”
CLKO Entertainment reported it made over 1,700 kinds of Mashimaro-related products last year, earning turnover of around 800 million yuan in South Korea. That figure is expected to reach over 1 billion yuan this year. However, in the two years since the “bad rabbit” hit the China market, the company estimates it has lost nearly 100 million yuan to rampant piracy.
“Our actions against copyright infringement will focus on books, website downloads, toys and stationery,” said Choi.
Investigations conducted by the company have shown about ten domestic publishers have been involved in the illegal production of more than 20 kinds of books related to Mashimaro. Moreover, many well-known portal websites such as 163.com and TOM.com provide Mashimaro flash downloads and sell related commodities without permission, while major supermarkets openly sell unlicensed Mashimaro toys and other products.
Complicating the issue is the fact that a Chinese company has already registered a trademark for Mashimaro in the domestic market, blocking CLKO Entertainment from getting its own rightful trademark for the time being.
To support its anti-piracy campaign, CLKO Entertainment has made the Guangming Daily Press its legal agent in China, giving the press the right to publish Mashimaro comic books throughout the country before the end of this year.
(Beijing Today January 20, 2003)
