Let's say no to plagiarism, fakes

A bite of China: Episode of instant noodles, a video film made by several college students, has gone viral on the Internet. The makers of the video no doubt feel proud of their "work", yet the plagiarism on the pretext of "honoring the original" will only harm the original work's reputation, says an article on gmw.cn. Excerpts:

The second season of A Bite of China, a documentary on Chinese cuisine, was accused of plagiarism after its first episode was telecast. Now several college students, by copying its narrations, background music and stories and replacing the dishes with instant noodles, have gained huge online popularity, which is rather ironic. If the students indeed wanted to "honor" the original documentary, they should have at least done so creatively.

Other college students have indulged in similar activities, which cannot be seen as matters of simple entertainment once local government departments or companies get involved. For example, the replica of the Sphinx built in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, has triggered a bitter dispute.

To the utter embarrassment of the Chinese government, Egypt has lodged a complaint with the UN against the Sphinx replica. If the replica of the Sphinx has to be demolished because of the Egyptian government's protest, who should be held responsible for wasting huge amounts of public resources on the imitation structure?

The video and replica cases essentially reflect the lack of innovation among Chinese people, which is something to be worried about. No one can say for sure that the students, who made the video and suddenly became "famous" and even made some money in the process, will not make more knock-off products after their graduation.

How can one generation pass on the spirit of innovation to another if no one feels ashamed of being copycats? This indeed is a matter of great concern.

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