In a hearing regarding an injunction to stop the screening of Director Jang Hang-jun’s massive hit movie “The Man Living with the King” (Wang-sa-nam), the production team argued that the narrative structure, character relationships, and the way the story reaches its conclusion are fundamentally different.
On the 19th, the Seoul Western District Court (Civil Division 21, Presiding Judge Shin Myung-hee) held a hearing on an injunction filed by the bereaved family of the screenwriter for the drama “Um Heung-do” against co-producers Ondawicks and BA Entertainment, as well as distributor Showbox.
A representative for the production company stated, “The parts claimed to be similar are simply historical facts, such as the deposition of King Danjong and the recovery of Um Heung-do’s body, or typical scenes that naturally follow such events.” They added that these elements are not subject to copyright protection.
They further emphasized, “Comparing the two scripts, the family’s script focuses on Um Heung-do’s ‘loyal death,’ but the movie has a completely different emotional weight. The axis of character relationships, the way conflicts unfold, and the conclusion are essentially different.”
The court noted, “It is true that materials and themes are not subject to copyright protection.” However, since the plaintiffs presented seven points of creative elements as evidence of plagiarism and the production team refuted them, the court requested the submission of supporting documents.
Claims have been made that “The Man Living with the King” plagiarized the script of the drama “Um Heung-do” from the 2000s. Ondawicks has countered that these plagiarism claims are completely groundless.
The movie currently has 16.86 million cumulative viewers, ranking as the second highest-grossing domestic film of all time, following “The Admiral: Roaring Currents” (17.61 million viewers).
