Internet super IP has been repeatedly mired in controversy: Is the trend of plagiarism really unstoppable?

Compared with physical books with long operating cycles, online novels have low thresholds for writing, convenient publication, and easy reading, and have become more and more popular. However, plagiarism of online novels seems to have gradually become the hardest hit area for infringement and piracy.

In recent years, the circle of online literature has not been peaceful. After many film and television dramas adapted from online novels were broadcast, the original works were questioned as "plagiarism". This is true for everything from "Flowers Thousand Bones" to "Fairview Unending" to "The Legend of Chu Qiao", which has just aired several episodes. To this end, the reporter interviewed online writers, lawyers and other industry insiders to analyze the reasons behind the above phenomenon.

In recent years, some online literature works have not only been adapted into film and television dramas, but have also been developed into online games, etc., launching a series of derivatives, so they are called "super big IP". But unfortunately, many of these TV dramas adapted from Internet IP have fallen into "plagiarism" after being popular.

Last year, the news that the original novel of the hit drama "Flower Thousand Bones" was involved in plagiarism was a sensation. Some netizens posted a comparison chart between some of the content of the work and the content of other online novels, and marked out similar parts, questioning the book's copying of works such as "Blooming Flowers Don't Remember the Year" and "Xiao Sheng Yan". Soon, the original author Fresh Guoguo issued an article in response to netizens, sincerely apologizing and expressing his own creative shortcomings.

In another hit drama,"The Fairness of the Year", the original author has been sued by rights writers for suspected plagiarism. According to reports, netizens spent three years comparing and believed that the book copied a total of 209 books, and even many details and descriptions were almost unchanged: the book has 2.7 million words and 294 chapters, and only 9 chapters have not been copied.

The original work of the popular TV series "Three Lives of Life and Ten Miles Peach Blossom" has also been controversial, and has been accused of plagiarizing another online literary work "Peach Blossom Debt". The style of writing and some plot descriptions in the play are very similar; the original novel "The Princess of the 11th Bureau Agents" of "The Legend of Chu Qiao", which was recently launched, was found to be suspected of plagiarizing many works such as "Jiuzhou Ethereal Record" and "Jiuzhou·Madam Huzhu".

Analyzing the above cases, it is not difficult to see that the original works of the above hit dramas are all online novels, which also raises some questions: Does this mean that plagiarism in the online literature circle is becoming increasingly serious? Why do such incidents still occur frequently when relevant departments have stepped up crackdowns?

Dong Jiangbo, an online writer and director of the Digital Media Center of the World Book Alliance, said that in fact, plagiarism occurs not only in the online literature circle, but also in other literary fields. However, when an online super IP is developed, it often means huge commercial benefits and means greater exposure."Online literature has developed rapidly in recent years, and its readership has become larger and larger. Therefore, after a film and television drama adapted from online literature is popular, hardcore fans of the original work can easily discover suspected plagiarism."

Indeed, compared with physical book publishing with long operating cycles, online novels have low writing thresholds, convenient publishing, and convenient reading, and are welcomed by more and more authors and readers. However, with the rise of online literature, plagiarism of online novels seems to have gradually become the hardest hit area for infringement and piracy.

"In the online literature circle, we need to ensure a daily update rate to cultivate a fan base, and we need to code at least a few thousand words a day. If some writers who are not talented enough have accumulated enough, they may look through other works for inspiration. If they have weak self-control, they may directly copy other people's words." An online writer revealed,"There are also some who like a certain type of online article, follow the trend and imitate it, and eventually become plagiarism."

As a publishing platform for original online novel websites, editors also have difficulties with "plagiarism". Dong Jiangbo gave an example. If an editor nominally leads 100 online writers, most of his energy will be devoted to 10 key authors, and the remaining 90 will basically sign contracts and stare at them."Coupled with the huge number of online articles, the editors 'reading volume is limited after all, and they can't care about it."

Faced with plagiarism, some authors bravely defended their rights, while others chose to give up. So, why did some rights protection actions end up "failing"? Perhaps the low cost of infringement and the high cost of rights protection are important reasons for the prevalence of online literature plagiarism.

"The trend of plagiarism in the online literature circle is indeed very serious. However, proving evidence for rights protection is more troublesome, and if a lawsuit is really filed, it may be a protracted 'war'. Therefore, as long as the copying is not too severe and the attitude of admitting mistakes is good, the original author will generally give up on rights protection." An Internet writer previously said this in an interview with a reporter from Chinanews. com.

After interviewing lawyers, the reporter learned that due to the characteristics of literary works, there are indeed some difficulties in defining "plagiarism":"plagiarism" usually refers to the unauthorized use of other people's works or plagiarism of other people's works, but how to use and use them to what extent is it considered infringement? The Copyright Law does not list specific indicators, and generally relies on the court to define them based on the specific circumstances of each case.

For example, if the work only writes the same plot and the written expression is original, then it usually does not constitute infringement. However, if the plot is the same overall, even if the words were written by yourself, it may still constitute infringement. Therefore, because literary works do not protect ideas and only protect expression, there is a certain subjective space in the determination of infringement.

Moreover, can we completely stop the "trend of plagiarism" by relying solely on the law? This may not be the case. Famous writer Zhang Kangkang once said that plagiarism will be condemned by public opinion. Once it is discovered that everyone wants to defend their rights,"people who write must also have a minimum of self-discipline and morality."

"But since the birth of online literature, there have always been a group of online writers who have made money through piracy and plagiarism, and they have not lost much." Plagiarism will continue to be banned repeatedly. If relevant laws are improved, penalties are increased, and the chain of interests is interrupted so that plagiarists can no longer practice, the effect of combating plagiarism may be relatively good, but there is still a long way to go." Dong Jiangbo said.

Editor: jessica