The lack of snow for the 2022 Winter Olympics, is not the only reason why China is facing criticism.
The recent controversy faced by the Chinese is with respect to the Official Song for the games, “The Snow and Ice Dance” which has raised some questions about its source. It has been noticed by keen listeners that the song sounds like a rip-off of “Let It Go,” the popular ballad sung by Idina Menzel . “Let it Go” rose to prominence, as it was featured in Disney’s Oscar-winning animated film Frozen. This was Disney’s biggest animated film earning more than $1.3 Billion worldwide.
With the launch of China’s official song on Youtube most listeners have sarcastically commented on the similarity between two songs, even mentioning the portions which seem to be exact copies. The listeners are furious as seems that organizers are trying to capitulate on the fame and popularity of the Disney track. When these issues were raised before the Beijing’ Games official committee, they neither denied nor affirmed the contentions. The Chinese business magazine Caijing Online trying to clear the controversy, stated that on analysis the instruments used in both songs are same and there is exists the same tempo and eight beat introduction, which makes both sound similar.
This is not the first time China has been accused of plagiarism, theft and copy of intellectual property, with the recent dispute over “Autobots”, a Chinese animated film slammed by viewers as a shameful copy of Diney-Pixar’s “Cars”. Even though the director of Autobots stated that he has never seen the Disney movie, the similarities in posters tells another tale.
“Those who do not want to imitate anything produce nothing” seems like the policy China follows .Further, rights under Copyrights, Trademarks and other Intellectual Property law are not being effectively enforced in the country, along with its ban on several social media sites, increasing the tension between Cina and the United States. Hopefully the situation will change in the future, as the outrage among the Chinese citizens against the country’s action, urges the nation to work towards a cleaner image.
Authored by Matisa Majumder.
