Recently, the OST "Annual Rings" of "The Journey of Flower", which has been online for ten years, has continued to dominate the Weibo hot search list due to controversy over "who is the original singer". Zhang Bichen and Wang Sulong, who had performed together in a concert last year, have even publicly torn their faces apart.
In 2024, Wang Sulong invited Zhang Bichen to be a guest at his concert, and the two sang "Annual Rings" together.
On July 22, the internet celebrity @旺仔小乔 said that Wang Sulong was not the original singer of "年环". This topic became a hot search on Weibo and attracted the attention of netizens. @旺仔小乔 said: "'年环' was written by Wang Sulong, but the original singer is Zhang Bichen. I will not change what I have determined."
In the early morning of July 25, Wang Sulong posted a message to @SilenceRadio0917: "Ten years after the release of "Annual Rings", we have decided to withdraw the authorization of "Annual Rings" and will not authorize any performance of this work for the time being."
Screenshot of Wang Sulong's contact number @SilenceRadio0917
Two hours later, @张碧晨Studio also released a statement saying that Zhang Bichen was the "only original singer" of "Year Rings", but at the same time, it also announced its farewell to the song.
@张碧晨Studio released a statement
Zhang Bichen's studio pointed out that Zhang Bichen's version of "Annual Rings" was first released online as an interlude of the TV series "The Journey of Flower" on June 15, 2015, 15 days earlier than Wang Sulong's version (June 30), and it is the only version used in the show.
Wang Sulong’s side believes that although the male version was released 15 days later, both versions were included in the "The Journey of Flower" OST album released that year, which is in line with the industry practice of "double original singers".
An hour later, @李思睿_Music, General Manager of Elephant Invisible Music, said, "I clearly remember that when we received the request for the "Annual Rings" project, the project party invited us to compose and sing, so we knew from the beginning that there would be both male and female versions. I just checked and the email records of the project from ten years ago are still in my mailbox. Now that things have come to this, "Annual Rings" has returned home."
@李思睿_Music Weibo screenshot
Around 18:00 on July 25, @张碧晨Studio posted another message saying, "After reviewing the formal contract signed by Ms. Zhang Bichen's original management agency and the producer, our artist Zhang Bichen legally enjoys the right to perform the song permanently around the world. Out of respect and self-selection, Ms. Zhang Bichen will no longer perform the song in the future."
The article also stated, "Grateful for the past, grateful to all the songwriters who sang songs for Ms. Zhang Bichen, thank you for her achievements."
@张碧晨Studio posted again
On the evening of July 25, Wang Sulong sang the controversial song "Annual Rings" during his tour in Shenzhen, and responded to the dispute over the "original singer" of the song with a pun: "Shanxi has vinegar, Lanzhou has beef noodles, what do we have in Shenzhen? It took me a long time to think that Shenzhen has shadows, because Shenzhen is upright and is not afraid of its shadow being crooked."
On the evening of July 25, Wang Sulong performed "Annual Rings" in Shenzhen, and said, "A person with a clear conscience has nothing to fear from his own shadow."
In this regard, The Paper reporter consulted Zhou Han, the leading partner of Haotian Law Firm's Intellectual Property Professional Committee, and Lan Peng, the leading partner of Haotian Law Firm's Intellectual Property Professional Committee's copyright business.
Regarding the dispute over the singing rights of "Annual Rings", the two lawyers said that the term "original singer" is only a commercial concept, not a legal concept . The subjects involved in the musical work include creators, performers, audio and video producers, etc., all of whom have corresponding rights. For example, when Wang Sulong is the composer, he enjoys copyright and performance rights; when he and Zhang Bichen are the singers, they each enjoy performer rights for their respective singing versions.
The performer's right is a neighboring right in copyright law, which includes personal rights such as indicating the performance identity and property rights such as the right to live broadcast, and must be based on the "performance right". Before Zhang Bichen sang "Annual Rings", she had to obtain the performance right license from the copyright owner of the song. This is the fundamental reason why Zhang Bichen sang "Annual Rings" after Wang Sulong revoked the authorization. The producer's right of recordings and videos usually belongs to the production entity such as the record company according to the contract agreement. If there is no agreement, it generally belongs to the unit or individual who first produced the product. If Zhang Bichen, Wang Sulong and the producer have an agreement, the subject will be determined according to the agreement.
The two lawyers pointed out that the dispute over the original singer of "Annual Rings" involves three key issues:
First, there is the dispute over Zhang Bichen's "permanent singing rights" as a singer. There is no concept of "permanent singing rights" in law . As the first singer, Zhang Bichen's singing rights are derived from the agreement with the copyright owner and the producer. Even if the so-called "permanent singing rights" are stipulated in the authorization contract, the boundaries of the rights are determined by the authorization period and scope, and are also limited to the use of her performance activities, such as Zhang Bichen's recording and dissemination of her singing version. As mentioned above, the performer's right is based on the performance right. As a property right, the performance right itself does not have the concept of permanence.
As a songwriter and singer, Wang Sulong's rights are based on copyright, performance rights and performer's rights for his own performances. Buying out the rights to sing a song is a common misunderstanding. The copyright owner, Wang Sulong, can withdraw the authorization, and even if the contract has not expired, it is only a breach of contract liability.
Secondly, it is the specific rights of the singers. A simple singer does not enjoy the copyright of the work, and the dissemination and recording of their singing version are only related. Specifically, as performers, Zhang Bichen and Wang Sulong both enjoy personal rights such as the right to declare their identity and protect their performance image from distortion, as well as property rights such as authorizing others to broadcast and disseminate their performance and receive remuneration. The scope of rights is limited to their respective singing versions.
Third, there is the issue of the withdrawal of the authorized performance. As the copyright owner, Wang Sulong can withdraw the authorization, which of course also involves the provisions of the authorization contract. After the authorization is withdrawn, Zhang Bichen will not be able to perform "Annual Rings" live, but the version she has already recorded can still continue to circulate.
As a performer, when signing a contract to authorize the "performance rights" of a work, do not fall into the trap and misunderstanding of "permanent performance rights", but you can obtain the right to "long-term singing" or "exclusive singing" through contractual authorization; in addition, for titles such as "original singer" that are not in the sense of copyright law, they must also be clearly stipulated in the contract to avoid later disputes.
It is reported that Zhang Bichen's singing of "Annual Rings" in Qujing on July 19 may be her last live performance of this version.
Last year, Wang Sulong invited Zhang Bichen as a guest to sing "Annual Rings" during his tour. Who would have thought that in just one year, the two top singers in the circle would meet each other because of this song.
At this point, after Wang Sulong took back the copyright, Zhang Bichen posted a farewell message, and the audio source of @旺仔小乔's version of "Annual Rings" was removed from the platform, the dispute over the original singer of "Annual Rings" also came to an end.
Wang Sulong’s words that year, “Except Zhang Bichen, all the other songs in this song are mine,” also became the final annotation of this golden song.
