Manga Author Drops Plagiarism Suit Against "You Who Came From The Stars"
Manga author Kang Kyung Ok, who sued the producers of "You Who Came From The Stars, " for plagiarism has suddenly dropped the suit.
The suit was filed on May 20th and dropped on July 3rd. The manga writer sued not only the entertainment company, HB Entertainment, but also the screenwriter Park Ji Eun. She asked for $600,000 in damages.
On her blog Kang claimed that the popular drama had too many similarities with her 2008 manga "Seol Hee" for it to be merely a coincidence.
In the drama, the alien Do Min Joon, played by Kim Soo Hyun lands on earth during the Joseon era and tries to save the life of a young girl. He fails. As he never ages, he keeps on living on earth hoping for a chance to go home. He meets a young girl who looks exactly like the girl he lost. Only this time he can save her life. Twelve years later they meet again. She has become a Hallyu star and is played by Jun Ji Hyun. They fall in love.
In "Seol Hee," a girl is operated on by an alien and gets to live 400 years. She falls in love with a movie star she met in the U.S. when she was a little girl. The movie star is the alien who first helped her.
Both stories are based on Joseon-era recordings of a sighting of an unidentified flying object.
What the stories have in common are the Joseon-era sightings, an alien saving a human life, living 400 years and meeting again to fall in love.
According to the Kang Ho Law Firm, which represented Kang, their client had enough evidence to win her copyright infringement suit.
"The results of a careful analysis indicate that the main characters, plot and development of events in both 'Seol Hee' and "You Who Came From The Stars' are very similar," said a Kang Ho Law Firm representative.
HB Entertainment said that the manga writer's claim was nonsense and also said that the screenwriter Park Ji Eun had never heard of the manga "Seol Hee." They threatened to strongly confront the lawsuit and accused Kang from trying to profit from their successful drama. They also said she should have spoken to them rather than making accusations on her blog. Such statements could be perceived as defamation.
It is not known whether there was a settlement made out of court.
