Crime suspense thriller Crime Crackdown 扫黑风暴 appears to be embroiled in a plagiarism controversy after a Netizen stepped forward accusing it of lifting parts of its opening clip from his work. The photographer claimed that two sets of images that appeared in the opening of the series were misappropriated from a set of time-lapse photography he had taken last year.
In response to the allegations, Crime Crackdown’s producers confirmed via a statement that the opening and ending clips in the show were commissioned from a third-party film and television company called VJshi and that they have already contacted the website to investigate the source material. Should any copyright infringement be involved, they said they will be getting in touch with the copyright owner. Likewise, VJshi also issued its own apology to the copyright holder, stating that after investigation, the material provided by a contributor called Gao 高某某 was not his own original work. Moreover, VJshi confirmed it has already banned the account and that any future dealings between them and Gao have already been terminated. They also said that they are in touch with all relevant parties and will fully assume responsibility for the incident.
In another post today September 3, the photographer thanked Netizens for their support and said he had faith that the law will give him justice. Contrary to what both companies have claimed however, he said that he has yet to receive any valid communication regarding the matter from the other two parties since news of the plagiarism issue became public. “I strongly urge them to rectify the issue immediately and apologise publicly!”
Crime Crackdown is a crime thriller starring Sun Honglei as the embattled police officer Li Cheng Yang caught between politics and corruption. Unjustly imprisoned and framed for a crime he didn’t commit, he joins forces with Lay Zhang Yixing’s Lin Hao and Liu Yijun’s He Yong, putting an end to the decade long hold of evil factions on the city and bring corrupt city officials to justice.
Source: 1
