Coffee Culture Update: Why Chagee Pulled Its Custom Cup Sticker Feature

Bawang Chaji, known overseas as Chagee, once offered free custom cup sticker printing through its mini-program. Fans soon found workarounds using third-party tools to bypass review and print photos of celebrities like Zhang Linghe on their cup labels. Images of these stickers spread quickly across social media, drawing wide attention and prompting questions about how the feature was being used.

The official team recently disabled the printing function, leaving the page with a notice that custom fortune stickers are being upgraded. Lawyers note that reproducing photographic works without permission carries infringement risks, and sharing, exchanging, or selling such stickers could violate both portrait rights and copyright. The brand could also share liability if its review mechanism proved inadequate, which makes the shutdown a reasonable precaution.

Bawang Chaji once launched a free custom cup sticker printing campaign, allowing users to upload images to create milk tea cup stickers. However, many fans used third-party tools to bypass the review process and printed photos of celebrities such as Zhang Linghe as cup stickers, sparking heated online discussion. Recently, the official team suddenly shut down the cup sticker printing function, with the page displaying "Custom Fortune Stickers Are Being Upgraded," catching many fans who had not yet printed their exclusive cup stickers off guard. Lawyers point out that unauthorized reproduction of photographic works carries infringement risks, and if used for dissemination, exchange, or sale, it clearly infringes on celebrities' portrait rights and photographers' copyrights. The brand may also bear joint liability for failing to establish an effective review mechanism. This article sorts through the entire incident, analyzing the legal issues involved and the responsibilities of all parties.

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Recently, many netizens have been posting on social media platforms photos of milk tea cup stickers featuring celebrities such as Zhang Linghe attached to Bawang Chaji cups, and the related images quickly spread, attracting a great deal of attention.

It is understood that this year during the Beginning of Spring, Bawang Chaji launched an activity called "Galloping Heavenly Horse · New Spring Fortune Stickers," offering a free custom cup sticker printing service on its mini-program. Users could design personalized cup stickers using templates or simple hand-drawn designs, then attach the printed black-and-white labels to their milk tea cups.

By mid-March, the official team upgraded this rather fun DIY cup sticker printing function, allowing users to upload their own images and print them as sticker labels. After the feature update, some users discovered that by uploading celebrity photos through third-party workshop software on a computer and then using the friend-sharing function to obtain a digital code, they could bypass the platform's review process and print cup stickers with celebrity photos.

As a result, fans followed the printing guides circulating on the platform, using this DIY cup sticker printing function when ordering drinks through the mini-program to obtain cup stickers printed with photos of their favorite celebrities at a low cost. Some uninformed passersby, upon seeing the related posts, briefly mistook it for certain celebrities having launched a collaborative partnership with Bawang Chaji, sparking much discussion online.

However, in recent days, consumers have reported one after another that celebrity photos uploaded after placing orders through the mini-program could not be printed due to failing the review. After asking store staff, they learned that stores had received notice that DIY cup stickers were prohibited from printing real people and anime portraits, and only official materials or hand-drawn designs were allowed.

This morning, multiple users opened the official mini-program and found that the interface displayed "Custom Fortune Stickers Are Being Upgraded." This sudden change caught many fans who had not yet printed their exclusive cup stickers off guard, and also left them particularly puzzled: why did Bawang Chaji suddenly shut down the cup sticker printing function?

In response, some netizens pointed out that Bawang Chaji's custom fortune sticker function page clearly states that uploading content that infringes on others' portrait rights or copyrights is prohibited. However, the original celebrity photos uploaded by fans through third-party tools were mostly taken by professional photographers and constitute protected photographic works, so turning them into cup stickers may constitute infringement.

Moreover, some people ordering just 1 drink but requesting dozens of cup stickers printed would occupy the store's receipt printer, affecting normal store operations, which is why the official team suspended the cup sticker printing function.

Lawyers also pointed out that if fans merely print celebrity photos for personal collection, it generally does not constitute infringement within the scope of fair use, but unauthorized reproduction of photographic works still carries a slight infringement risk. However, if these sticker labels are used for dissemination, exchange, or sale, they exceed the reasonable boundary and constitute clear infringement. Second-hand platform merchants selling DIY celebrity stickers infringe both celebrities' portrait rights and photographers' copyrights, and must bear responsibilities such as ceasing the infringement and compensating for losses.

Additionally, lawyers stated that Bawang Chaji, which launched the cup sticker printing function, cannot be completely exempt from liability. Although the platform has prohibition clauses, it has not established an effective review mechanism, allowing users to upload infringing content through third-party tools and thereby gaining commercial traffic and revenue. According to relevant provisions of the Civil Code, if celebrities pursue accountability, the brand may bear joint liability for failing to fulfill its management obligations.

Image source: Internet

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