A Chinese social media influencer who imitates a former K-pop star has sparked controversy among netizens after revealing his staggering online income. Photo: Screenshot from online

A Chinese social media influencer who imitates a former K-pop star has sparked controversy among netizens after revealing his staggering online income. 

The influencer, known as Ling Dale, disclosed in a recent live-streaming event that he had earned 5 million yuan ($680,000) and amassed a total of 35 million yuan ($4.79 million) in seven months.

His video went viral on Douyin, a Chinese short-video platform, where he showcased his striking resemblance to Luhan, a former member of the popular K-pop group EXO. With a hairstyle and makeup similar to the idol, he has attracted millions of fans and viewers. He also claimed in the video that he had purchased a luxury house worth 11 million yuan ($1.5 million), an expensive car, and an office building worth over 6 million yuan ($820,000), raising questions among netizens about the target audience and popularity of such celebrity copycats. But some have questioned whether they infringe upon the rights of the original stars.

Ling Dale has 6.83 million followers on Douyin and has live-streamed 16 times in the past 30 days, generating sales of about 10 to 25 million yuan each time. His peak popularity reached over 200,000 viewers on September 14, a few days after he disclosed his income. His main products are mostly low-priced and range from 10 to 50 yuan, the typical categories sold by most influencers who start with low-cost items.

Ling Dale is not the only example of a star impersonator. Last summer, a boy band called ESO and its members made headlines as their names were similar to members of EXO. Another group, TS, also gained fame with members mimicking a string of celebrities including famous Chinese pop stars such as Yi Yangqianxi and Can Xukun.

But does this process of using similar names and styles constitute infringement? Liu Ying, a Shanghai-based lawyer, told the Global Times on Sunday that "there is a risk of unfair competition if they use the fame and influence of celebrities to seek commercial benefits." 

However, "if they just look like celebrities, it does not violate their portrait rights, as appearance is natural," said Beijing lawyer Zhang Feifei. "But if their stage names, outfits, performances, and stories are highly similar to those of celebrities, and they hype themselves up by using the personal experiences or stories of celebrities, they may infringe on their reputation rights."