"Nine Plus Boys" has an innovative plot. Three brothers and their uncle, whose age all ends in nine, are having a difficult year romantically. It's just a coincidence their ages line up so perfectly and their love lives are so flawed.
And it's just a coincidence says the drama's writer Park Yoo Mi that the drama is similar to a musical written by a university student.
Lee Jung Joo, the writer of the musical "Exit 9" claims that the tvN drama was plagiarized from the musical, which was staged in February. Lee Jung Joo met with the drama's writers and legal team but the meeting did not reach a satisfactory conclusion. So Lee filed an injunction to prevent the drama's broadcast.
"We couldn't reach an agreement so I am going to court," said Lee, a university student.
"I'm scared, being just one individual against a large broadcasting corporation. But, although it is just the creative work of a university student, it is, nonetheless, a 'creative work' into which hours and hours of creative struggle were invested. I don't know what the end result of this will be, but I want to make it known that even a university student's work isn't easily brought into existence," said Lee Jung Joo.
After the drama began airing some viewers commented online that parts of the musical and the drama were similar.
But Park Yoo Mi, one of five writers who worked on "Nine Plus Boys," says it is just a coincidence. Park recently released a statement in response to the plagiarism accusations.
"The two works have no connection whatsoever," said Park.
The writer felt that she needed to explain her point of view.
"I have just completed the 14th episode," said Park. "Writer Lee Jung Joo made it seem like it was plagiarism by talking to the media and writing on our viewer board."
However, she stressed, that is not the case. The synopsis for the drama was done in January and can be proven through an email trail. The musical "exit 9" was staged in February.
"When we wrote the drama synopsis we had no idea the musical even existed," said Park Yoo Mi. She also said that the characters could not be similar because the character played by Oh Jung Se is based on a real person she knows.
"The 39 year-old Koo Kwang Soo character is based on our own PD, and his story is 80 percent based on the producer's life," she said.
Park was disappointed that the plagiarism accusations will mar what up until then was a very positive experience.
"This is the first drama project for us five writers and the producer, so we were proud to be working on it. However, after the plagiarism accusations, the drama was branded as just that and our honor as freelancers was tainted. This is also a big issue, and we are willing to take legal action."
