Writers of hit Taiwanese song accused of plagiarism

台灣熱門歌曲作者被指控抄襲

‘Your Name Engraved Herein’ lead track of eponymous movie


Taipei (Taiwan News) — Accusations of plagiarism have emerged surrounding the hit Taiwanese song “Your Name Engraved Herein,” which won Song of the Year at the Golden Melody Awards and is featured in the movie of the same name.

The song was the work of Malaysian musician Keon Chia (佳旺), Taiwanese musician Hsu Wan-ting (許媛婷), and Singaporean musician Chen Wen-hua (陳文華). After Crowd Lu (盧廣仲) performed the song, many other singers also released versions.

Television host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) accused the song’s trio of creators with plagiarism, and the three made an official announcement to deny the accusation on Sunday (Aug. 29).

Wu claimed the melody of "Your Name Engraved Herein" is very similar to Richard Sanderson's "Reality," while some netizens claimed the prelude is a duplication of the piano piece "Freedom Hill" by Chinese musician JINBAO.

The three songwriters denied both charges in their official announcement, with Chia describing the accusation of plagiarism as like a knife stabbing through his heart.

"Reality" and "Your Name Engraved Herein" have little in common, Chia said, with only one lyric matching. As for "Freedom Hill," he admitted he was shocked by the similarities when he heard it for the first time recently.

The songwriter noted that "Your Name Engraved Herein" was released in March of 2019, the same as "Freedom Hill," but the latter came out on a Chinese platform. He emphasized that since he uses Apple Music, he would not have heard it.

Lu's manager Tiger Chung (鍾成虎) said the songs are different but that he respected Wu's opinion.

The Ministry of Culture confirmed the song is suspected of copyright infringement but that according to the law, legal action would have to originate with the copyright owner.

The Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development at the Ministry of Culture will make the final decision based on the judgment of the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court.