Background and history
On March 7, 2019, G.E.M. announced her departure from Hummingbird Music following three months of contract negotiations and allegations of being pressured to work. Hummingbird denied the claims, stating that no undue pressure or unfair practices had occurred. Despite the dispute, G.E.M. continued her Queen of Hearts World Tour until April 2019 to avoid disappointing her fans.
As "G.E.M." and "Tang Tsz-kei" are trademarks held by Hummingbird, speculation arose that she might have to relinquish her stage name. Hummingbird clarified that the copyright was intended to prevent piracy and stated that legal counsel was being consulted before taking further action. A spokesperson added that "a lawyer has been assigned to make sure that [she] will receive all the basic rights that she deserves". [1] Legal proceedings ensued, with both Hummingbird Music and G.E.M. filing lawsuits and counterclaims over exclusive rights to her copyrighted works, including her stage name. The litigation lasted six years. [2]
On June 12, 2025, G.E.M. published a statement on Instagram, describing her journey as "not a story of revenge, but of rebirth and reclamation." She recounted composing her first song, Sleeping Beauty, at age 13, which was later released on her debut EP, G.E.M. (2008). Around the same time, she joined the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong (CASH) without fully understanding its significance. At 15, she signed a contract, written in English, with Hummingbird Music. The contract was co-signed by her mother, who was not fluent in English. Believing she would retain ownership of her copyrights, like Hummingbird told them verbally at the signing, G.E.M. later discovered that she only received royalties while the company maintained full control over the copyrights, including decisions on performances, adaptations, and commercial use of her songs.
G.E.M. remained silent for years until she realized that her CASH membership would play a crucial role in legally re-recording her songs, granting her global distribution rights. In July 2023, an expert in mainland China’s copyright law joined her legal team, leading to the discovery that she could re-record her previous works, except for those with explicit prohibitions against re-recording. Hummingbird attempted to block the re-recordings of her other materials but was unsuccessful, as G.E.M.'s team had already completed the necessary legal procedures. In the same statement, G.E.M. announced that her re-recorded album will be released the same day. [3] [4]
On June 18, Hummingbird issued a statement demanding all music platforms to immediately remove the re-recorded songs and G.E.M. to delete all infringing content from all channels within 48 hours because the re-recorded songs constituted legal infringements of reproduction and adaptation rights, as well as information network dissemination rights. [5] Four hours after Hummingbird's statement, G.E.M. responded via social media that the re-recorded songs will not be removed because "these re-recordings are legally available worldwide." [6] As of June 24, the re-recorded album was still available on streaming platforms in China. [7]
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