Thank you for your continued support of COVER Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "COVER Corp.") and its VTuber agency, hololive production.
At COVER Corp., our dedicated team of staff members has worked together with our lawyers to combat slander and other acts of infringement (hereinafter referred to as "infringements of rights").
The following is a report of the measures taken during a one year period, from January 2023 to December 2023.
Measures Taken Against Infringements of Rights of Affiliated Talents
Number of infringement of rights cases handled in the time period: 116
COVER Corp. is taking ongoing measures to report infringement of rights incidents found on Internet forums, social media, and other websites.
In addition, we are taking steps to prevent further incidents by negotiating with and taking legal action against administrators of certain malicious aggregator websites that may exist and encourage infringement of rights.
The following is an excerpt from the report on the aforementioned measures.
Outline of Actions Taken
1. Legal Action Against Infringements of Rights on Online Forums and Social Media
Among posts on online forums and social media services, including the service known as X (formerly Twitter), COVER Corp. is both preparing to and currently implementing requests for disclosure of sender information ("disclosure requests") for particularly malicious posts.
Specifically, 14 disclosure requests were filed in 2023 alone, and nine of them were disclosed. In four of these cases, the parties reached settlements on the terms and conditions requested by COVER Corp., including compensation for damages and a ban on future social media posts regarding our company and any affiliated talents.
COVER Corp. will continue taking legal action and is currently responding to ongoing court proceedings for disclosure requests and settlement negotiations.
In addition to disclosure requests, we are also taking such actions as to delete and report infringing posts and accounts, with existing ones having been removed.
2. Legal Action Against Harassment Directed at Overseas Talents
Malicious acts such as harassment against our overseas talents are dealt with through swift legal action, including issuing warnings through local attorneys and COVER Corp. will continue to build rapport with them going forward in an effort to promptly respond to any infringements of rights that may occur as we expand abroad.
3. Legal Action Against Aggregator Websites
Negotiations and legal action have been taken against the administrators of certain aggregator websites, other sites which were determined to have infringed on our copyrights and other rights, and post information that contains defamation against COVER Corp. or its talents – settlement agreements have been reached with some of the administrators of these and other websites.
As of the date of this report, responses against 5 particular websites have been concluded, with responses against several other administrators still underway.
In addition, a system has been established which will allow us to cooperate with certain aggregator websites to more quickly delete submissions and comments that defame COVER Corp. and any affiliated talents.
4. Legal Action Against Criminal Response
Any information related to harmful submissions on online forums, including those that may threaten the life or well-being of our talents or employees, are promptly shared with and reported to local authorities.
Please note that we are unable to provide details regarding ongoing criminal cases.
5. Cooperation with Business Partners
COVER Corp., in cooperation with our business partners, will continue to form and enact legal measures, such as damage claims and any other necessary actions, against acts that may interfere with the business operations of any parties involved, including but not limited to COVER Corp., its affiliated talents, and any business associates.
6. Cooperation with Stakeholders
In December 2022, COVER Corp. released a joint statement with ANYCOLOR, Inc. (https://cover-corp.com/en/news/detail/20221205_announcement_en) aimed at eradicating defamatory acts against our affiliated talents.
In July 2023, we released an additional joint statement announcing the formation of a “Anti-Defamation Study Group” with the cooperation of Google LLC, note inc., UUUM Co., Ltd., ANYCOLOR, Inc., and related experts.
COVER Corp. representatives thereafter attended and spoke at the Anti-Defamation Forum held in December 2023 in an ongoing effort to further cooperate with our stakeholders.
COVER Corp. will continue to improve our internal structure and strengthen cooperation between our legal advisors and judicial institutions, taking stringent measures against defamation and any other malicious acts toward our talents and providing a safer working environment for our talents.
We would like to thank our fans for their continued support of our talents.
COVER Corp. has prepared the following form and would appreciate fans using it to share any instances of slander or defamation directed at our talents.
<COVER Corp. - Defamation Report Channel>
https://cover-corp.com/en/report
● Please note that we will be unable to reply to individual inquiries.
Our hope is that all talents at hololive production can enjoy interacting with their fans.
We will continue to take measures against defamation, as well as provide our talents with the mental and emotional support that they require and deserve.
We thank you for your understanding in this matter.
January 11, 2024
COVER Corporation
