Case brief

    Qin is the male live streaming host of the karaoke room on an online live broadcast platform. He usually sings and dances in the live stream, winning many netizens to watch. Wang, a single woman, is addicted to swiping videos in her spare time. In early 2022, Wang met Qin in the live stream by chance. The young and handsome Qin fascinated Wang. The two interacted online in the live stream at first, and slowly developed into offline dating, establishing a relationship between male and female friends. The good times did not last long, and Qin's popularity gradually declined. In order to please her boyfriend and help her increase the performance of the karaoke room, Wang paid for Qin to order songs in the live stream, accumulating tens of thousands of yuan in recharge.

    However, in 2024, the two sides ended their relationship due to emotional breakdown, and Wang asked Qin to return the money he spent in the live stream. After many negotiations failed, Wang sued the court on the grounds of unjust enrichment, asking Qin to return the song recharge 89,000 yuan.

    Qin argued that Wang voluntarily placed an order for songs in the studio, and the money belonged to the online platform where the studio was located. It was not the direct recipient and did not need to return the song-ordering fee.

court hearing

    After trial, the Zhongxian Court held that the lack of legal basis for one party to benefit is one of the constituent elements of unjust enrichment, and it is also an essential and basic element for the right to request the return of unjust enrichment. In this case, Qin, as the streamer of a song room on an online platform, provided singing services for paying users. As a person with full capacity for civil conduct, Wang voluntarily registered as a live platform user in accordance with the platform rules, and in the process of using the live platform, voluntarily recharged and ordered songs in Qin's song room, which is a normal online consumption behavior. Wang should be responsible for the consequences of his recharge behavior. At the same time, Wang recharged and ordered songs, essentially forming a network service contractual relationship with the live platform. The income Qin obtained from the studio came from the revenue sharing between the live broadcast platforms, which had no direct legal relationship with Wang, and Qin did not constitute unjust enrichment. In summary, the court ruled to reject Wang's lawsuit according to law. At present, the judgment in this case has come into effect.

Judge's statement

    Fang Hongyan, the contractor judge, said that my country's Civil Code stipulates that because others have no legal basis and obtain improper benefits, those who suffer losses have the right to request the return of improper benefits. In essence, users recharge and reward live streaming hosts through online live broadcast platforms. At this time, the user forms a network service contractual relationship with the online live broadcast platform, which is a commercial consumption behavior. On the premise of not violating the mandatory provisions of laws and regulations and the principle of public order and good customs, the recharge and reward behavior should be determined to be valid.

    However, if the underage user's recharge reward behavior is not compatible with his age and intelligence level, in the absence of his legal representative's approval, and the recharge reward and the live streaming host develop into an extramarital relationship, and the husband and wife's common property is given to the live streaming host without authorization, which violates public order and good customs, etc., shall be considered invalid.

    Live streaming has enriched the daily lives of the masses, but it has also brought temptations and risks. The judge reminded that when watching live streaming, the masses should regulate their own consumption behavior, be wary of "gentle traps", and avoid large-amount recharge rewards. As a live streaming host, we should also recognize that the Internet is not an extrajudicial place, and we must strictly abide by laws and regulations and industry norms, consciously reject vulgar live broadcast content, and jointly create a healthy and harmonious cyberspace environment.

    This article is transferred from the "Shandong High Law" WeChat official account, thank you here!