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According to a report by the Workers' Daily on July 15: After working for nearly half a year, Wang Yue only earned more than 3,000 yuan from live streaming, but was asked to pay 1 million yuan in compensation because the live streaming time was insufficient. He eventually paid 30,000 yuan. This tortuous experience made Wang Yue completely give up the idea of ​​continuing to be an online anchor.

At present, the number of online live broadcast users in my country has exceeded 800 million. As market demand continues to grow, online anchors have become a career choice for more and more people. As the number of practitioners continues to grow, disputes between anchors and performing companies are also increasing. The determination of live broadcast duration and the resulting high liquidated damages disputes have become the focus of controversy. Even in the contracts provided by some MCN agencies (agencies that specialize in providing services to online video creators), the clauses regarding live broadcast duration and liquidated damages may contain traps.

The video was not broadcast for enough time and was sued for 1 million yuan

The picture shows a female anchor broadcasting live. Image source: Xinhuanet

"It is almost an impossible task to achieve the live broadcast time required by the contract." Xiaoxin, an online anchor who has just entered the industry, told the Workers' Daily reporter that the MCN agency he works for requires some anchors to broadcast live at least 26 days a month, and the "effective live broadcast time" must reach 130 hours.

Bian Siyu, who used to be a part-time online anchor, said that some MCN agencies do not directly count the absolute length of the live broadcast of the online anchor when calculating the live broadcast time, but include indicators such as the number of viewers, the number of interactive people, and the amount of reward. "Only when certain standards are met can it be considered as 'effective live broadcast time'. Often, out of a 4-hour live broadcast, only 2 hours are considered effective."

"Not only that, the working time for equipment debugging, shooting short videos, training and learning before and after the live broadcast is generally not included in the live broadcast time." Xiaoxin said that according to the requirements of the organization, it seems that the average live broadcast time is 5 hours a day, but in fact it may take more than 10 hours. "Staying up late to live broadcast and working for many hours in a row are common. In the long run, the body simply can't bear it."

What made it even harder for Xiaoxin to accept was that he was unable to get the guaranteed salary to support his daily life because he failed to broadcast for the agreed length of time. After he took the initiative to terminate the contract, the MCN agency demanded a high amount of compensation: "I worked for more than two months, and my monthly income was less than 3,000 yuan, but I paid 200,000 yuan in liquidated damages!"

The contract signed by Wang Yue also clearly stipulated the length of live broadcasts. As the company's anchor, Wang Yue's live broadcast time standard is: 6 hours of live broadcast time per day, no less than 150 hours of effective live broadcast per month, and no less than 26 days of broadcasting. Otherwise, Wang Yue will be deemed to have seriously breached the contract.

Wang Yue asked the company to cancel the contract on the grounds that she was not feeling well and could not withstand the high-intensity work, and that there were a large number of unequal clauses in the contract, but her request was rejected by the company.

After working for nearly half a year, Wang Yue actually only received 3,725 yuan in total. In sharp contrast, the contract signed by both parties stated that if Wang Yue breached the contract, he would have to pay the company a penalty of 2 million yuan. After the company determined that Wang Yue had breached the contract, it applied for arbitration, claiming that it had suffered actual losses and demanded that Wang Yue pay a penalty of 1 million yuan.

Because the company did not provide relevant evidence of actual losses, the arbitration committee ruled that the standard terms in the contract were invalid and ordered Wang Yue to pay the company a penalty of 30,000 yuan.

Female anchor interacts with fans during live broadcast. Image source: Xinhuanet

There is also a college anchor who was sued for 80 million yuan

Last December, Luo Li became a hot topic: "The female college student who was claimed 80 million yuan by ×× platform." She was the protagonist.

Liu Xin, who once provided legal consulting services to MCN agencies, told reporters that although not every case involves such a large amount of money, his company handles 300 to 400 disputes between MCN agencies and anchors every month. Most of them are college student anchors who are sued for high liquidated damages by the agencies for breach of contract.

During the interview, the reporter found that for college student anchors, the length of live broadcasts and signed contracts may all be hidden traps. College students who are inexperienced in the world lack social experience and can easily become the target of MCN agencies and guilds for breach of contract claims.

The experts interviewed pointed out that it is urgent to improve the quality of practitioners in the live broadcast industry. Regular professional training should be provided to relevant persons in charge of MCN institutions, and the rules for determining the length of live broadcasts should be standardized. At the same time, employment guidance for college students should be strengthened to avoid unnecessary disputes.

High liquidated damagesNot protected by law

There are many similar cases. Jimu News reporters noticed that the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court had tried a similar case before.

Li signed an agreement with a media company in Huadu District, Guangzhou, stipulating that the cooperation period between the two parties would be two years, and that Li's "average daily duration of live performances on the Internet performing arts platform would not be less than 6 hours per month, and the number of days per month for live performances on the Internet performing arts platform would not be less than 26 days." "If one party unilaterally proposes to terminate this agreement or fails to perform the obligations required by this agreement without reason (one month as the term), it shall pay a liquidated damages of 200,000 yuan to the other party." Later, Li stopped working due to illness. For this reason, the media company took Li to court and demanded that Li pay a liquidated damages of 200,000 yuan.

Although the two parties agreed that if one party breached the contract, it would pay the other party a liquidated damages of 200,000 yuan. However, the court held that the company's losses were mainly due to its investment in Li and the expected benefits that both parties could obtain from continuing to perform the contract. In this case, the company's investment in the defendant was not significant. At the same time, the amount of the company's expected benefits depended on many factors, including the company's brokerage capabilities, resources, the host's qualifications and even opportunities, the development of the industry, etc., which was highly uncertain.

Li was not suitable for long-term performance activities due to illness. Based on the principles of fairness and good faith, and taking into account the nature of the contract involved, the cost of investment, the performance of the contract, and the losses caused by the breach of contract, the plaintiff claimed that the liquidated damages of 200,000 yuan were obviously too high. The court of first instance ruled that Li should pay a liquidated damages of 20,000 yuan. The company was dissatisfied and appealed to the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, but the appeal was rejected and the original judgment was upheld.

The judge pointed out that in this case, Li did breach the contract, but the company's claim for a penalty of 200,000 yuan was obviously too high. Although the two parties had agreed on a penalty clause in the agreement, the agreement violated the principles of fairness and good faith and was therefore not protected by law.

Xue Jun, a professor at the Law School of Peking University, said in an interview that the determination of the amount of liquidated damages should take into account the costs of the MCN agency and conduct scientific and accurate business valuations. "Unreasonable burdens should not be arbitrarily placed on workers who are unable to bear the burden."

Experts suggest that the duration of live broadcast work should be clarified

"There is rationality in setting rules for live broadcast duration, but the disputes in practice mainly lie in the fact that the calculation and evidence rules for this duration are not clear." Professor Fan Yuan from the School of Labor Economics of Capital University of Economics and Business said that unreasonable "effective live broadcast duration" rules are the main way for some MCN organizations to infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of online anchors.

Experts say setting live broadcast duration rules is reasonable

"It is obviously unreasonable to calculate the length of live broadcasts based on uncertain factors such as the 'number of viewers', which is very disadvantageous to online anchors." Regarding the setting of live broadcast duration, Xue Jun, a professor at the Law School of Peking University, suggested that both parties should specify the specific calculation rules for the live broadcast duration in the contract, and it is best to use objective factors such as the "actual broadcast start time" as the standard.

"Clarifying the legal relationship between the two parties is the key to solving the problems of unreasonable live broadcast duration mechanism and high liquidated damages." Xue Jun said that if it is a labor relationship, it is protected by the labor law, and the setting of working hours, liquidated damages and other rules should comply with the provisions of the labor law.

"Relevant management departments can issue corresponding guidelines to clarify the basic rules for calculating working hours in the network anchor industry." The scope also suggested that special laws and regulations can be formulated, or targeted guidelines can be issued to clarify the legal relationship between MCN agencies and network anchors. In addition, industry self-discipline should be strengthened and common rules should be formulated to avoid vicious competition within the industry.

Jimu News compiled from Workers' Daily, Legal Daily, and Yangtze Evening News (all names in the article are pseudonyms)

(Source: Jimu News)