Zhao Liying’s “Who is the Murderer” Draws Poster Plagiarism

Starring Zhao Liying (趙麗穎), Dong Zijian ( 董子健), and Xiao Yang (肖央), mystery thriller Who is the Murderer < 誰是兇手> was on many fans’ to-watch list as they expect to see a new side of Liying. However, before first impressions of the series even got the chance to roll in, plagiarism allegations cropped up that its promotional poster copied Japanese law drama Legal High.

Looking at posters for both dramas, it is apparent that the composition and actors’ poses looked almost identical besides the slight tone difference. While it was not the same in every detail, no doubt reference from the original Japanese production was taken.

As netizens questioned the similarities, Who is the Murderer’s production unit quickly apologized and clarified that “it was unintentional,” before deleting the poster version across all communication channels.

The poster design company also apologized, “We decided the design direction after an overview of the plot, which suggested the complicated relationship between the three main characters. The idea was based on the Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan where one does not see evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. While entirely unintentional, we will still not shirk any responsibility.”

Although focus should be centered on the storyline, discussions revolved around the accused act of plagiarism instead. The controversy became one of the hottest searches on Weibo, where more than 13 million people were talking about the topic.

Source: World Journal

This article is written by Minna for JayneStars.com.

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Responses

  1. Lol, the drama is just taking advantage of people’s joblessness to push the drama. It’s low cost on marketing and considering the cast doesn’t attract hate they know it’ll blow over. It seems to be the trend these days.

      1. Lol you’ll have to back up your statement with proof. You didn’t get the pun, the copy is how ZLY copied YM’s face and expression. Her fans boasted that she is picking better projects than YM, while YM already worked in a similar genre first and didn’t brag about her projects being better. Storm Eye is a genre of national security and spying agency.
        Now that WITM poster released, it only happened to have the exact same makeup, hair, expression, and lighting that YM had in Storm Eye. Hilarious!
        Just repeat the same mistakes, boast and accuse again. That’s daring of you to say when you don’t have the poster you saying in your hands. Please dig hard, I would love to see the poster YM plagiarized. That photo better be a woman with the same face as YM, same expression, makeup, hair style, and lighting.

  2. Storyline, poster, props, what do they not plagiarize in this industry? It’s not the first time and will not be the last until this industry starts taking pride in their work. Fortunately netizens are often quick enough to point out.

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