Japanese Publisher Inspects SBS Drama for Piracy

A Japanese publishing company, Shogakkan, has set about investigating Seoul Broadcasting System's TV drama 'Tomato', which is suspected of plagiarising a comic produced by Shogakkan, 'Happy'.
A staff member of the publisher visited Korea on June 1, to inspect the TV drama and compare it with the comic. Shogakkan plans to decide on a course of action by the end of June, after discussions with the writer.
Experts point out the lack of criteria by which to judge a piracy.
The Korean Broadcasting Commission, which inspected the 'Tomato' case, said, 'We reserve judgement due to the lack of a precedent and differences in genre, although there are similarities in motive and story.'
The general manager of YMCA Audience Movement Bureau, Lee Seung Joung, urged that 'it is shameful that we still have no criteria with which to judge a piracy, even though plagiarism on TV is common.'

Jooan Kang : jooan@joongang.co.kr