[2] Guo Jingming suffered heavy losses due to plagiarism, so why does the trend of plagiarism persist?

Compiled from The Paper
 
[4] Previously, the plagiarism incidents involving Guo Jingming and Yu Zheng caused a huge uproar. Both lost their lawsuits and were nearly blacklisted in the film and television industry, with their new works even being taken down. However, these precedents not only failed to serve as a warning to others but instead led some to "follow suit," knowing plagiarism is wrong yet unwilling to give it up.

 
 

Case review
On March 28, online writer Zu Zhan announced that her lawsuit against another online writer, Jiu Yuexi, for allegedly infringing on the copyright of her work "Embrace You Across Time" with "Xiao Nan Feng" had been filed at the Beijing Chaoyang District Court. Zu Zhan's side demands that Jiu Yuexi cease infringement, issue an apology, and compensate for losses. Ceasing infringement refers to stopping the reprinting of physical copies, removing electronic versions from the internet, and halting dissemination. Zu Zhan stated that this comes five years after she first received a private message from a reader informing her that "Embrace You Across Time" was suspected of being plagiarized by "Xiao Nan Feng."

 
 

At the end of 2014, she completed the novel "Embrace You Across Time" and began serializing it on Jinjiang Literature City in early 2015. In October 2015, the physical book of "Embrace You Across Time" was published.
 
In February 2016, Zu Zhan received a tip from a netizen that "Xiao Nan Feng," serialized by Jiu Yuexi on Jinjiang Literature City, appeared to have some similarities with "Embrace You Across Time."
 
Due to the difficulty of organizing comparative materials and the high cost of legal action, Zu Zhan did not pursue the matter further and stepped away from online literature in 2017.
 
In 2021, the Anti-Plagiarism Fund, initiated by writer Zhuang Yu, was established. Subsequently, Zu Zhan contacted the fund and received financial and legal assistance from it. This case became the first among all cases supported by the Anti-Plagiarism Fund to reach the litigation stage.

 
 

 
"Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 217
Whoever, for the purpose of profit, commits any of the following acts of infringement on copyright or related rights, if the amount of illegal gains is relatively large or if there are other serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years and/or a fine; if the amount of illegal gains is huge or if there are other particularly serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years, and shall also be fined:
[1] Reproducing, distributing, or communicating to the public via information networks, without permission of the copyright owner, their literary works, musical works, artistic works, audiovisual works, computer software, or other works as provided by laws and administrative regulations;
[2] Publishing books for which another person holds exclusive publishing rights;
[3] Reproducing, distributing, or communicating to the public via information networks, without permission of the producer of sound recordings or video recordings, the sound recordings or video recordings they have produced;
[4] Reproducing, distributing, or communicating to the public via information networks, without permission of the performer, sound recordings or video recordings containing their performance;
[5] Producing or selling artistic works bearing a forged signature of another person;
(6) Intentionally circumventing or destroying technical measures taken by copyright owners or related rights holders to protect copyright or related rights in their works, audio or video recordings, etc., without the permission of the copyright owner or related rights holder.

 
 

 
[5] "Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 52[6] The following acts of infringement shall, depending on the circumstances, bear civil liability such as cessation of infringement, elimination of adverse effects, apology, and compensation for damages.
(1) Publishing the work of others without permission from the copyright owner;
(2) Publishing a work created jointly with others as one's own sole creation without permission from the co-authors;
(3) Signing one's name on another person's work without participating in its creation, for the purpose of seeking personal fame or profit;
(4) Distorting or tampering with the works of others;
(5) Plagiarizing the works of others;
(6) Using a work by means of exhibition, filming an audiovisual work, or adapting, translating, annotating, or otherwise using it without permission from the copyright owner, except where otherwise provided by this law.
(7) Using another person's work without paying the remuneration that should be paid;
(8) Renting the original or copies of a work or audio/video recording without permission from the copyright owner, performer, or producer of audio/video recordings of audiovisual works, computer software, or audio/video recordings, except as otherwise provided in this Law;
(9) Using the typographical design of a book or periodical published by a publisher without the publisher's permission;
(10) Live broadcasting or publicly transmitting a live performance, or recording the performance, without permission from the performer;
(11) Other acts of infringing copyright and rights related to copyright.
 
Article 53The following infringements shall, depending on the circumstances, bear the civil liability as provided in Article 52 of this Law; if the infringement also harms the public interest, the copyright administrative department shall order the cessation of the infringement, issue a warning, confiscate illegal gains, and confiscate, destroy, or render harmless the infringing copies and the materials, tools, equipment, etc., mainly used for making such copies. If the illegal business turnover is 50,000 yuan or more, a fine of not less than one time but not more than five times the illegal business turnover may be imposed concurrently; if there is no illegal business turnover, the illegal business turnover is difficult to calculate, or it is less than 50,000 yuan, a fine of not more than 250,000 yuan may be imposed; if a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be pursued according to law:
(1) Reproducing, distributing, performing, screening, broadcasting, compiling, or communicating to the public via information networks a work without the permission of the copyright owner, except as otherwise provided in this Law;
(2) publishing books for which another person has exclusive publishing rights;
(3) Reproducing or distributing sound recordings or video recordings of a performance, or communicating the performance to the public via information networks without the permission of the performer, except as otherwise provided in this Law;
(4) Reproducing, distributing, or communicating to the public via information networks sound recordings or video recordings produced by the producer without the permission of the producer, except as otherwise provided in this Law;
(5) Broadcasting, reproducing, or communicating to the public via information networks a broadcast or television program without permission, except as otherwise provided in this Law;
(6) Intentionally circumventing or destroying technological measures without the permission of the copyright owner or related rights holder, intentionally manufacturing, importing, or providing to others devices or components mainly used for circumventing or destroying technological measures, or intentionally providing technical services to others for circumventing or destroying technological measures, except as otherwise provided by laws or administrative regulations;
(7) Except as otherwise provided by laws or administrative regulations, intentionally deleting or altering rights management information on works, layout designs, performances, audio-visual recordings, or broadcasts without permission from the copyright owner or related rights holders, or knowingly or having reason to know that such rights management information has been deleted or altered without permission, and still providing the works to the public;
(8) Producing or selling works falsely attributed to others.

 
 

[1] The author's perspective
Plagiarism or copying among online novels has become commonplace. Here, plagiarism refers to the act of taking someone else's work as one's own, completely copying it under the same usage, or altering its form or content to some extent. Clearly, this is a serious infringement of copyright, but in current copyright trial practice, it is relatively difficult to define. In China's judicial practice, the specific criteria for determining plagiarism or copying mainly focus on the following four points:
1. The publication dates of the works;
2. Whether the works are original;
3. Whether the objective conditions for plagiarism or copying exist, such as the possibility of accessing others' works;
4. Comparison of work features (e.g., characters, main plot, thematic ideas, details, etc.)—whether they are identical.
 
When Jiu Yuexi's film "Better Days" was released, she was accused by netizens of plagiarism and "plot fusion." At that time, Jiu Yuexi also seized on the vague definition standards in judicial practice, consistently stating, "There is no unified standard; it has gradually evolved into something based on 'inner conviction.'"
 
Another point worth noting in this case is the Anti-Plagiarism Fund. The establishment of this foundation not only represents online writers' resistance to plagiarism but also signifies legal professionals' condemnation of such egregious behavior. Whether it was Guo Jingming's earlier plagiarism or Yu Zheng's theft, both were ultimately ruled by courts as copyright infringement. Yet, after these cases, the trend of plagiarism has not subsided; instead, it has become more common, and in severe cases, may involve criminal offenses. Therefore, we must remain highly vigilant about plagiarism and take this issue seriously. Judicial practice needs to quickly summarize evaluation standards and then formulate them into laws and regulations for unified implementation. Boundaries cannot remain vague; through judicial rulings in each individual case, we must advance the clarification of plagiarism boundaries, providing guidance for similar future cases. Only then can judicial fairness be achieved—not only to improve the legal system but also to maintain a healthy environment for literary creation.