Recently, a reward advertisement for "dog-finding inspiration" has been circulated on social networks. The main idea is that if a pet dog is lost, anyone who helps find it will be given a house. Putting aside the relationship between the o...
Recently, a reward advertisement for "dog-finding inspiration" has been circulated on social networks. The main idea is that if a pet dog is lost, anyone who helps find it will be given a house.
Putting aside the relationship between the owner and the pet dog, many netizens have raised questions, that is, if they help find the pet dog, what should they do if the reward advertisement is not honored? Are these bounty ads effective?
See below.
In fact, reward advertising is a unilateral civil act, just like a gift. Although it is mainly a unilateral expression of intention, it requires the counterparty to cooperate and complete certain behaviors before the contract can be established. Reward advertisements require the counterparty to complete specified behaviors, while the establishment of a gift contract requires the counterparty's acceptance of the intention.
Reward advertisements have three elements:
First, a public expression of interest to unspecified people or organizations in society. Public methods include text advertisements, image and sound advertisements, not only traditional advertisements on advertising boards, telephone poles, public vehicles, radio, and television, but also new media such as Weibo, WeChat groups, and the Internet.
The second is to pay a clear amount of remuneration. In practice, it is often seen that "if you find a wallet, you will be greatly thanked." This is an expression of uncertainty and does not constitute a reward advertisement, it is just a general advertisement. Reward advertisements must have a clear reward amount, such as a reward of 5,000 yuan for picking up a wallet, or a reward of 5,000 yuan to 8,000 yuan, with a certain range.
Third, the specified behavior must be completed. Such as picking up a wallet and delivering it to a designated location, etc.
Article 499 of the Civil Code: If the person offering the reward declares in a public manner that he will pay a reward to a person who completes a specific act, the person who completes the act may request payment.
Liu Li, a member of the Civil Affairs Committee of the Guizhou Provincial Lawyers Association and a full-time lawyer at Guizhou Gongcheng Law Firm, interprets this article as follows:
This article stipulates that the reward person promises to pay a certain amount of remuneration for completing the designated behavior in the form of public advertisement, and the perpetrator is entitled to receive the remuneration after completing the behavior. Reward advertisements can be seen everywhere in daily life, such as information about missing objects, missing people, and looking for clues to cases. With the development of social economy, the forms of reward advertisements have become more diverse. There have been two different views in the academic community on the nature of reward advertising, whether it is a contract or a unilateral act.
Those who hold a contract view believe that reward advertising is a contract, which is an offer issued by the advertiser to an unspecified majority of people. As long as a person completes his designated behavior, it constitutes a commitment and both parties establish a contract. Article 471 of the Civil Code stipulates: The parties may conclude a contract by means of offer, acceptance or other means. From the perspective of system interpretation, it can be understood that the reward advertisement stipulated in Article 499 is a contract concluded in other ways as stipulated in Article 471. However, there are two problems with the contract view: Does this doctrine give people without capacity for civil conduct or persons with limited capacity for civil conduct the right to request remuneration? Actors who do not know the existence of a reward and complete the behavior specified in the advertisement cannot establish a consensus. The unilateral behavior view holds that a reward advertisement is a unilateral expression of intention by the person offering the reward. As long as the person offering the reward expresses his intention in this way, the person who completes the act can request payment of remuneration. Even persons without capacity for civil conduct, persons with limited capacity for civil conduct, or persons who were unaware of the existence of the reward advertisement before completing the act can request payment of remuneration. This provision is more consistent with the view of unilateral acts.
Things to note in practice are:
1. Actors who complete the behavior specified in the advertisement without knowing the existence of the reward are entitled to receive remuneration.
2. If several people complete the reward advertising activity, the one who completes it first will have the right to claim for rewards; if they complete it at the same time, they will have the right to claim rewards in equal proportions.
3. The amount of reward is not specified in the reward advertisement. When determining the amount, the content of the advertisement (such as reward and repayment are different), the benefit of the reward person, and the reasonable costs and expenses paid by the perpetrator should be taken into consideration.
4. People without capacity for civil conduct or persons with limited capacity for civil conduct can become beneficiaries of reward advertisements.
Conclusion:
In the above case, Ms. Xu published a reward advertisement of "Dog Searching Enlightenment" in a public place. When someone completes a specific "dog hunting" task, Ms. Xu can be required to pay according to the reward advertisement (i.e. a house). If the rewarder fails to fulfill his obligation to pay the reward, he can sue the court to require the other party to fulfill his payment obligation.
