[Creative Awards 2024 Impressions] Work: That's Not Plagiarism! / Mikumayutan
This is less of a pure review and more of a feeling of, "Hey, you should read this," to all the residents of note who post original works.
The protagonist is Noriko, who works as a temporary employee while longing for a job in book production.
One day, she discovers that a work serialized on a manga site is strikingly similar to a story she had posted on a novel site when she was in high school.
While I was a little frustrated with Noriko's attitude toward her work in the beginning, I completely empathized with her after she realized it was plagiarism.
I was so furious (laughs).
She emails the publisher, but, well, she's ignored, and because of something that happens, she ends up being threatened with a defamation lawsuit by the manga author.
Then, a person appears who becomes her ally.
That person thinks through things with her from various angles, explaining how things work in court in this situation, or how she might be evaded if she says certain things.
Since I was already completely worked up, I read along with the same intensity as the protagonist, thinking, "I see, I see," or "Oh no, that was a bad move, wasn't it?"
It felt more like reading a manga than reading a novel.
It wasn't that I could see the images, but rather that I could see the panels and the art within them. It was a strange sensation.
And it ends right at the point where she decides, "I'll do my best to win if it goes to court!"
You're going to write a sequel, right? (laughs)
I want to read it, the sequel (laughs).
I'm also curious about the future of these two. It's going to develop into a romance, right? (laughs)
I've written things that might trouble the author, but as I said at the beginning, it's a "Hey, you should read this."
The fact that we post our work on the internet means we are exposed to those kinds of risks, don't we?
I hadn't thought about it before, but as in this novel, there is a possibility that ideas could be used in the form of other media.
And there is a high possibility that proving plagiarism is difficult.
It might be a rare case, but it's not impossible that a funny short-short story I wrote could be used as part of a bit by an unsuccessful comedian at a comedy show.
By the way, the author had an experience similar to this novel and researched plagiarism.
My daughter apparently used to draw pictures and upload them online, but she says she stopped uploading them because it's becoming highly likely they will be used as material for AI-generated images.
I hear it's already a pretty big problem in the art world.
For that reason, I recommend this work as a starting point to think a little about plagiarism.
End