The Ministry of Culture yesterday said that it would assist artists with litigation against an online art gallery and distributor, Global Art Net, which used contracts to allegedly bilk the artists out of commissions on all of their sales.
Ink painter Liu Kuo-sung (劉國松) first brought the issue to light four years ago when he discovered that Global Art Net was selling reprints of his work, the ministry told a news conference.
Liu, Wu A-sun (吳炫三) and other alleged victims took part in the news conference.
Photo: CNA
“I was going to take them to court, but they produced a contract, that I signed, which authorized them to sell all my work — current, past and future — and take 40 percent of the profit,” Liu said.
The contract included official and private deals, Liu added.
Likening the contract to an “indentured service contract,” Liu claimed that more than 500 artists had signed contracts with the Web site, which demands a 40 percent commission from sales of their work.
Investigations have shown that Global Art Net owner Lin Chu-nan (林株楠) might have begun defrauding artists as early as 2011.
Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得) yesterday extended an apology to all of the alleged victims, saying that the ministry learned about the company’s actions too late and could not deliver justice before now.
The ministry has asked prosecutors to urge the court to expedite a review of the case.
The ministry has arranged for the artists to have legal representation and plans to file a class-action lawsuit against Global Art Net, in the hope of annulling the contracts by declaring them illegal.
The case is “absurd,” Lee said.
“If we can’t defend and protect our artists’ rights, what right do we have to talk about the development of national arts and culture?” he added.
Lee called on other artists who might have been deceived by Lin to contact the ministry.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique