Writing software makes Internet plagiarism easy

(ECNS) -- Some authors on the Internet are using writing software to produce popular Web fiction and stories, Qianjiang Evening News reported, adding that a 1,000 Chinese-word depiction can be finished in 10 minutes by the programs.

The software, which costs about 15 yuan ($2.18) on Alibaba's Taobao online shopping portal, can automatically recognize and grab information and narratives according to user keywords. Some even have functions for typesetting, titles and information search.

Numerous popular Chinese Internet fiction stories are suspected of plagiarizing the works of others. Current writing software can search information from hundreds of books, making it easier to copy.

Eleven online writers have jointly sued Zhou Jing, writer of The Princess Weiyoung, which has been adapted into a popular TV soap opera, for copying their work. They also sued dangdang.com, the online seller of the book. Chaoyang District People's Court is still dealing with the case, the report said.

According to Beijing News, a group of volunteers compared The Princess Weiyoung with more than 200 other novels. They found that out of 294 chapters, only nine are original, according to a volunteer quoted by the newspaper. "The writer may have used software to help her copy other works," the volunteer said.

Beijing-based attorney Wang Guohua and his team at Zhongwen Law Firm are representing the 11 writers in the lawsuit, China Daily reported. "In the novel The Princess Weiyoung, there appears to be a large number of copycats regarding sentences and plot," China Daily quoted Wang saying.