Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Shanzhai!

from the Montreal Gazette on theChinese pavilion at Expo 2010:

The trouble started more than a week ago when Expo organizers were confronted with suspicions a high-profile promotional song advertising the World's Fair featuring action hero/singer Jackie Chan and a host of other Chinese stars, 2010 Waiting for You, borrowed freely from a 13-year-old Japanese tune, Stay the Way You Are, by Mayo Okamoto.

Expo organizers did not actually admit plagiarism, but they hastily pulled the song from the airwaves because of "copyright issues," according to their website.

The next potential shanzhai problem came to light at a news conference late last week when a U.S. reporter noted the similarity between the Expo mascot Haibao and Gumby, the title character in a cartoon series that ran on North American television for 35 years, starting in 1957.


UPDATE on 29 April 2010:

Pavilion plagiarism refuted including

"We have attached great importance to IPR protection. … Any IPR conflicts with regard to the Expo should be dealt with according to relevant laws," Hong Hao, director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, said Wednesday [4/28] at a press conference amid public suspicion of plagiarism over the design of China's pavilion, mascot and theme song.

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