International Student in China Sues Ofo for Using His Photo

International Student in China Sues Ofo for Using His Photo
Jun 13, 2018 By eChinacities.com

An international student in China is suing bike sharing company Ofo for using his image in an advertising campaign without his knowledge. The Saudi Arabian national, who has not been identified, says Ofo’s operator Beijing Bikelock Technology and parent company Baidu used a photograph of him in online advertisements and on their Encyclopedia page.

Disclaimer: The photo above is not necessarily that of the plaintiff.

The story came to light on Monday as proceedings began at a Beijing courthouse. The student is demanding that Ofo and Baidu remove all images of him, pay compensation of 300,000 RMB and issue a public apology.

The plaintiff points out that international students in China are not allowed to earn money while they study, so the use of his image could have got him in trouble with the immigration authorities.

The student, who first came to China in 2011, only found out that his image was being used for marketing purposes when his friend spotted the advertisement while playing an online game.

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Keywords: international student in China

2 Comments

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Judred1967

This is off topic but I wonder what course he is studying and when was the time he actually enrolled. If he first came to China in 2011, I am curious whether he started studying during that year or he started out as a tourist first. It seems to me that he is an overstaying student or he started high school in China and continued his college degree in China. Whatever the reason for staying this long in China as a student, I am more interested about him since he does seem to love studying in China LOL.

Jun 13, 2018 22:50 Report Abuse

ambivalentmace

China does this crap all the time, but a rich kid from Saudi who can screw with them and China will need oil from the Saudis for many years, this should be a hell of a show. All bets are off on this conclusion. Anybody else probably would not even get a court date.

Jun 13, 2018 19:41 Report Abuse