What the... that was funny..

The few threads one after another over the same topic look bizzare

Pass me some popcorns too!

Is Ciderella man even good? Besides that, this is nonsense. If anyone wants to sue anyone it should be The Devil Wears Prada, come on people. Now-a-days Koreans be crazy!

I feel for you Javabeans... I really do.

I think that what we have is a real difference of opinion as to what actually happened.

A libel suit, in any country with fairly modern legal system, is really an attempt to set the record straight publicly, and for consequential damages to be paid to make whole those who have suffered because of being cast in an inaccurate fashion.

Now, in this case it appears that not everybody can be telling the truth at the same time, and so, it is possible that one or more inaccuracies will be corrected by this going through the legal system. Now, for damages to be paid, they would have to directly connect the inaccuracies to actual suffering suffered, a tall task in itself.

What does all this mean? A long time ago, the National Football League was sued for about $500M (tripled by the antitrust law to $1.5B) by an upstart league called the United States Football League (USFL) for all sorts of things. And in the end, the USFL won the antitrust lawsuit, but the jury found that the total damages was equal to $1, which was then tripled to $3. That's three dollars. And then the USFL died. Lesson learned, I hope. Need both the law AND the facts on your side, otherwise you still could lose if you win...

**

My point - lawsuits and/or trials generally happen when opposing sides have an unclear or differing understanding of something critical - usualy either their understanding of the law or their understanding of the facts. If both sides had the same understanding, then they would immediately have settled and not gone through with these wastes of energy (unless, as JB mentioned, the whole point is to drum up publicity and notice).

Here, we might have multiple misunderstandings and differences of opinion (of not only the facts but also of what the law is), and so I don't see these cases being settled any time soon.

You are right JB. Copyright Infringement doesn't protect ideas. In other words, you are allowed to use other people's ideas and still not infringing on other people's property. Further, in the case of copyright infringement lawsuit, one must prove that the other (the defendant) has access to the content that was being copied. The question is who had the idea first, CM or Fashion King?

This is actually kind of fun -- since in arbitration it was found that Cinderella Man did not plagiarize, if Cinderella Man people can prove that Fashion King had malicious and deliberate intent to smear Cinderella Man and hurt their sales, wow, they could possibly win a libel lawsuit.

When did Korea become so litigious-happy?

It seems pretty likely that this is for publicity now, because you don't need to be a lawyer to be able to work out by logic that like everybody's mentioned, you can't copyright or plagiarise ideas, so I doubt their legal representation would have let them through the door. I mean, where would kdramas be if this were to be acceptable? The gorgeous rich bastard falling for the poor(er) spunky girl would've been taken at Pride and Prejudice. Nobody seems to care about Cinderella Man and Fashion King probably won't win any awards (who is even in that? they're all blending into one...).

This is just getting ridiculous, all these dramas are walking cliches of Fashion plots, I mean Devil wears Prada wasn't all the original itself to begin with. Honestly...

This is........ interesting?

So much drama >.<
I just need my Fashion Allo!

And yeah... is the Devil Wears Prada the first and original? *just curious because I never watched it*

Yes Please, pass more popcorn my way too.....

This should be the most original reference material for a drama comedy ever.

Four fashion based dramas - with ( an idea, characters, background & core content - borrowed from JB above ) makes me think of four motor manufacturing companies.
Idea - Transport machine to move from A to B.
Characters - Body shape, colour, speed, power blah blah etc.
Background - Limo ( oh, wealthy ), Sports Car ( fast, a player ), People Mover ( hard working ), and the Little Hatch Back ( nimble go getter, worker ).
Core Content - Body, Chassis, Wheels, Engine, Seats blah blah etc.
A car is a car, is a car, but not all the same..... Ummm, mobile phone, TV, Washing Machine. brain stop.....

@6, xiahkixiri -

That's a good point. Wasn't the story of Cain & Abel actually taken from the Bible, Genesis... I believe it was? Wouldn't that mean that SBS owes a ton of money to... God?

@ Nom Kitteh~ "When did Korea become so litigious-happy?"....That's exactly what I was thinking too! I thought it was only the crazy Americans that are so lawsuit happy all the time.

Putting aside all the legal matters of the situation, I think the various companies involving in the situation are just thinking so damn small. I mean if you want to drum up interests for your drama, then don't do it by linking yourself to something so unsavory as a lawsuit....especially when it's apparent to all that those lawsuits are just money driven.

Also, why not invest these litigious energy into oh I don't know...script writing, production management, directing...things that actually matter in making a drama?

I don't know a thing about law (and plagiarism/copyright infringement are very different things), but at least in academia, I believe you can plagiarize an idea. I mean, plagiarism can get pretty intense (I think copying more than 3 consecutive words verbatim without quotes and a reference is plagiarism; you can even self-plagiarize). Just wanted to throw that out there, even though it's not entirely related.

R.I.D.I.C.U.L.O.U.S.

Instead of constructing a legal circus, they should just stick to shoe throwing and hair pulling - easier to follow and vastly more entertaining.

The funny thing is I would actually be interested in seeing a drama based on THIS :)

@15 - While SBS and KBS are going at each other, perhaps MBC can announce their casting for a drama based on this. ;)

@ 15 Jessica - Seconded! This is almost better than actual television!

The funny thing is, I don't actually care for fashion dramas in the first place. There's only so much I can take of gorgeous wardrobes before I start to look for actual substance, and I rarely find it. :/

Gosh, and I was just talking to my friend the other day about how lawsuit-happy Americans are. Way to go, Korea.

wasn't it said, "bad publicity is ALWAYS better then NO publicity" -- how about FREE publicity? They are getting away with going really cheap here! lol!

Hah. I bet this is CM's way of trying to grab more viewers to, well, compensate for their lack of ratings. Does anyone still watch that show anymore? I mean, really? I feel like a lot of this is publicity stunt.

I'm getting tired of the Devil Wears Prada. Please. There's more to the fashion industry than the same old stuff that's stereotyped. Instead of working on the same ideas and fighting each other about it in a blatant publicity stunt, why not put some of that brain power to developing better stories?

Oh my gosh. -_-;; this is nuts. I understand the want to be the only one producing a certain drama, and when there's so many of the same style to choose from, it gets a little boring. But come on people! If you want to create some drama (pardon the pun), make a NEW drama that's new and original

What is this all about? Everyone thinks that he/she creates the original one..I don't think that a story focus on fashion would be that interesting..And please..Don't you think you guys (all Korean producers and Directors) actually the ones who are doing idea plagiarism to Devils Wears Prada? Why don't you take a look at yourself before sue anyone else for the same thing that you've also made..

I watched Devils Wears Prada and honestly i don' t really like it..For me, the story was such a boring..The only one that i noticed was Meryl acting..She was good..

@ Nom Kitteh

Okay this is completely off-topic but did you watch episode 5 of Atashinchi no Danshi?!

[I am like silently squealing like crazy. SLDKFJWEROIUSDLFKJ. SLDFKJWEROIUSDFLJWER.] If not.... you need to watch it ASAP. I can't freaking wait until the next week.

Alright, this is ridivulous.The idea of a "fashion" drama is not at all original. And its not like you can copyright an idea.

Besides, who's even watching Cinderella Man anyways. And who would actually watch it overseas???

OMGAWD. Rawr.

Who the hell is the attorney team over there? Tough recession indeed...they'll do anything to get a case!

@22 A,
No! I haven't watched 4 or 5 (are subs for 5 out already?) yet.

--------------
(Sere, don't look below -- SPOILERS, maybe, but I will try to keep it spoiler free)

------------

OMG, OMG, please tell me that Mr. Missing Hot Brother is IN DA HOUSE macking hard with the GURL (No! Don't tell me -- I am super spoiler-phobic) :-) .

I might be able to watch the episodes on Thursday night but it will probably be the weekend before I can get to them :-( >:-< .

Thanks for checking in. I am so excited to watch Ep 5 now...Must. Not. Run. To. Watch. Episode. Right. Now. AAAAAH!

----------

It's probably a publicity stunt.

hahahahahaha..wow koreans are funny as heck...its so funny to me that koreans

are like the only ones who keep bring up plagiarism...i understand its a big thing,

but dang!!! cool it..shesh...everywhere i go, i hear neitizen bringing up

plagiarism...do they even know the definition..like seriously comprehending it...its

like every little thing is plagiarism...wtf!!!

------------------go and read what plagiarism is...------------------

Actually, plagiarism does include ideas. So yes, you can plagiarize by simply not crediting someone from whom you've taken an idea.

@ Nom Kitteh

Chinese subs are out for episode 5 [the only reason I'm so quickly caught up]. BUT OH ME OH MY. The last like minute of episode 5 killed me. And, FINALLY, in episode 5 he appears in multiple scenes [I know, le gasp]. He is definitely appearing more often from now... or else I will protest. HE NEEDS TO BE BACK IN THE HOUSE. Unfortunately, in episode 5 they cut down major on scenes with Musai too.... what is this?!

OH MY GOODNESSSSSSSSSSSSSS. LOL. I'm sorry. I'm going fangirl crazy. Must calm down, must calm down. I will try my best not to spoil it for you.

this is all i've got to say...... ThEy aRe jUst WasTing tHeir mOney!!!!

goodness!! everyone suing each other from left to right...The maker of Devil Wears Prada should be the one suing...So, Notting Hill should sue "Star's Lover" and/or That Fool? or CM is so desperate to have higher ratings to pull this stunt?

whoah..this is hilarious!. I agree it's just publicity stunt.

three fashion dramas all in the same year..all I can say it the court cases likely be more of interesting that the tv dramas..;-(

This is hilarious and ridiculous!!

@Jessica
I concur - a drama based on this might actually be more interesting. Throw in the hair-pulling and stilleto-throwing scenes and we've got ourselves a funny, short drama. I say short because there's only so much of the catfight I can tolerate.

this is stupid if copying an idea is plagiarism then every single korean drama was plagiarized since most use the same cliche plots (but is SOOO addicting) lol
But i don't really care for these dramas so I'm not really opinionated =/

this is funny, and stupid. if you really think about it all dramas are the same, throw in a love triangle or square, an evil girlfriend, a terminal illness or amnesia or kidnapping, loans/debt collectors, a dragged storyline keeping the 2 leads apart & unhappy, a rushed ending, then there is your drama.

@23
i'm actually watching Cinderella Man and think it's decent. However, I don't think I'd be watching if it hadn't been for Kwon Sang Woo's acting. Yoona's acting is sorta meh to me, and the plot is sorta typical.

Indeed, having the same ideas can be plagiarism; I think for those who often write college papers know that. No matter what if you use a certain idea from a source, you have to credit it in your biblio/works cited page. When I write my english essays, my teacher makes us credit her for using her ideas in our Works Cited page under 'class notes, _____'.

However, dramas are very typical, they follow along the same plotline. Only a small amont of dramas vary from the typical storyline. I think every drama would have to sue every other drama for that: 'ooh they copied us, they had someone with cancer too!'

@j:

yeah, i think the only thing holding up cinderella man for me is definitely kwon sang woo.

the thing is, ideas get repeated so often that its called 'cliche'.

so as what Samsooki said, if they really want to fight based on this, they should pay a lot of money to Hans Christian Andersen, Grimm's Brother (who took ideas from folk stories as well), all your folk storytellers, Shakespeare, God...

if it's for publicity, way to feed families.