The 40 year-old plagiarizer

‘Hollywood Plagiarized My Novel’
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Comedian and a scenario writer Kim Yong claims a hit Hollywood movie plagiarized his novel published 10 years ago.
Last week, Kim filed a lawsuit at Seoul Central District Court against UIP Korea, the United States-based film distribution company of the movie ``40-Year-old Virgin,’’ saying it had plagiarized Kim’s novel ``Virgin Till The End, Just Once’’ published in 1996.

Kim is seeking 10 billion won in damages.

``The Hollywood movie is so similar to my novel in so many ways including scenario, title, characters, and conclusion. I have gathered all the evidence that can prove plagiarism by Universal Pictures. I am also planning to file a lawsuit in the United States,’’ Kim told The Korea Times.

``In order to take proper legal measures, I will actively fight for my honor with my appointed lawyer. I wrote the novel well before the movie was made. I believe my novel was widely spread through the Internet and publishing industry and was taken advantage of by the American filmmakers. I hope this will raise international awareness about the seriousness of invasion of copyrights.’’

Because Kim held a one-man demonstration in front of the U.S. embassy in Seoul and will also file a lawsuit in the U.S., his action is likely to spark controversy over the issue of the invasion of copyrights at the international level.

``Considering that Universal Pictures earned $150 million only within the United States, we have demanded 10 billion won for damages at first,’’ said an official from Dongsonambuk, Kim’s law firm.

Other than filing a lawsuit against an invasion of copyrights, he will speak on the issue of revising copyright laws at an open seminar and debate at the National Assembly in Yoido, Seoul, Friday.

UIP Korea declined to comment on the issue, saying it has nothing to say officially since the matter will be legally dealt with in court.


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Interesting bit of news I found.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Now this...Hmm...I'll be watching this one...DK, is this reported anywhere else besides Korea Times?
 
There's been a few similar problems, mostly with Disney. If this goes through in the states, it'll be interesting legal precendent.

God damn, I've been taking this one law class for too long. :)
 
Doggy Kruger said:
we're talking about won, not dollars ^_^;

10,000,000,000.00 KRW
South Korea Won = 10,339,012.980 USD
United States Dollars ~seems reasonable to me...if this case plays out.
 
yeah but disney has an actual contract with Toei unlike universal studios, plus your comment about dubbing tokuhatsu totally reminds me of the horribly dubbed Ultraman Tiga shown on Foxbox a few years ago :redface2:
 

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