The Wandering Earth - Ma Zhao
The highly anticipated sequel to the blockbuster Chinese sci-fi film, The Wandering Earth, has been breaking box office records since its release on January 22 in China. The film earned over 180.83 million CNY ($26.2 million USD) in the first week, making it one of the highest-grossing films in China's box office history.
However, amidst the film's success, a controversy has arisen involving a popular artist known as "Rou Yang" or "肉羊老师" in Chinese. It all started on February 24 when Rou Yang began promoting merchandise based on the character Ma Zhao from The Wandering Earth 2, priced at 65 and 120 CNY. Some fans raised concerns that the merchandise might infringe on copyright laws, but Rou Yang ignored them and deleted their comments.
When the official merchandise partner of The Wandering Earth 2, OCE, was contacted, they confirmed that Rou Yang did not have the authorization to use the characters and issued a warning to take down the products. However, by this point, over 1000 units had already been sold and Rou Yang did not respond to requests for refunds.
OCE responded that the merchandise was not authorized
After OCE's warning, some fans investigated the cost of producing the merchandise and shared their findings in comments, but Rou Yang deleted these comments and blocked the users. This caused further outrage and over 400 fans reportedly requested refunds.
It was only after The Wandering Earth 2's official Weibo account issued a statement on the matter that Rou Yang finally responded publicly. The incident has sparked debate among fans, with some accusing Rou Yang of profiting off of the film's success and infringing on copyright laws.
Rou Yang's apology
The Wandering Earth 2 is based on a novella by Liu Cixin and is directed by Frant Gwo. It stars Qu Chuxiao, Zhao Jinmai, and Wu Jing and tells the story of humanity's attempt to save the Earth from a dying sun by moving it to a new star system.