The closing of China's largest gaming expo, China Joy, has sparked significant controversy. Yesterday, South Korean entities accused several games showcased at the event, including the well-known "Rivers and Lakes Online" (http://rxjh.17game.com), "Rivers and Blood: Zhifu" (www.rexuezhifu.cn) (www.rxuezhifu.cn), and a series of other online games, of "plagiarizing" South Korean game works. This involved multiple titles developed or distributed by Shanda, 9You, and Yanlong Technology, claiming that China Joy concluded amidst accusations of "copying."
### Definition of Plagiarism: Not Style but Source Code
Subsequently, journalists contacted Shanda, 9You, and Yanlong Technology, all of whom dismissed the "plagiarism" claims as baseless.
Li Weixiao, Vice President of Yanlong Technology and a renowned game producer, told reporters: "Referencing styles is a common practice in the gaming industry. You can call it referencing or imitating, but not plagiarism. If we're talking about plagiarism, wasn't South Korea's 'Audition' also somewhat plagiarized from Japan's music game pioneer Konami's 'Dance Dance Revolution'?"
Since the essence of games is computer programs, according to Chinese law, source code represents the part that reflects the originality of the copyright owner, protected under the Copyright Law and the Regulations on the Protection of Computer Software. Therefore, only through source code can one determine if there has been plagiarism of someone else's copyright. Thus, judging solely based on style that Chinese game developers have plagiarized South Korean games is entirely unreasonable.
Intellectual property lawyer Yao Kefeng stated yesterday: "From a purely legal standpoint, if two games are overly similar in their visuals, it could lead to infringement issues, but it depends on the specifics. However, it definitely cannot be called plagiarism, which doesn't hold up legally."
### Acknowledging the Issue: Following Trends Among Chinese Developers
It must be admitted that Chinese game developers do indeed follow trends quite heavily. After Tencent successfully distributed South Korea's "Dungeon Fighter Online" in China, numerous Chinese developers followed suit, resulting in three similar games within a short period. However, labeling this as plagiarism lacks justification. Fundamentally, South Korea's "Dungeon Fighter Online" also significantly referenced games like Japan's arcade classic "Romance of the Three Kingdoms."
### Root Cause: Monopolistic Mindset of Korean Games
Industry insiders revealed that the root cause of the so-called widespread "referencing" of Korean games lies in their unreasonable distribution system. Without mentioning the high cost of distributing Korean online games, what is more critical is the monopolistic mindset behind the distribution system. An unnamed insider pointed out that Korean game companies often distribute older versions of their games to Chinese operators rather than the latest ones. For instance, the Korean game "Dungeon Fighter Online," which was accused of being plagiarized, had already been running for three years in South Korea. Tencent paid a hefty price for its distribution rights but only received a version from a year prior, forcing Tencent to expend significant effort improving operations and services.
This person emphasized: "Korean game companies never directly give the perfect current version to Chinese distributors; they provide an older version first, and if it performs well, they sell you the new version later. One game can generate revenue multiple times." In fact, after a certain Korean game achieves massive success in China, Korean companies may even kick out the Chinese distributor, setting up a shell company to operate the new version themselves. The Korean game companies' habit of "burning bridges" is an open secret among industry insiders.
Due to the various technical means employed by Korean game companies to maintain their monopoly, the cooperation between Korean game companies and Chinese distributors has been in a delicate adversarial situation from the outset, making it difficult to establish true trust. Therefore, to break free from control, capable Chinese game operation companies start anew. In a sense, developing so-called "replicas" is a response to being forced into such a situation. Due to the frequent issues with the old versions provided by Korean games, the maintenance costs for Chinese game operators are excessively high, and they also suffer reputational damage.
This person stated: "Blaming everything on Chinese game distributors isn't a solution, and accusing Chinese game companies of plagiarism will likely exacerbate the rift between Korean game developers and Chinese distributors."
Finally, this person emphasized that South Korean online games were once the uncontested rulers of China's gaming industry, but with the rise of domestic developers, the market share of Korean vendors is shrinking. As a result, they frequently wave the "plagiarism" stick, reflecting a fragile "sour grapes" mentality. (Beijing Business Today)