Lawyer Accuses Manga of Plagiarism, Shogakukan and Mangaka Fights Back

Earlier this month, a lawyer named Masatoshi Uchida accused Hideo Iura's manga Bengoshi no Kuzu of plagiarizing a novel he once wrote.

Now Mainichi Shimbun reports that Hideo Iura and Shogakukan are denying the alleged copyright violation:

Iura admitted that he had referred to Uchida's novel but denied that he had violated any copyrights.

"Copyrights cover only concrete written expressions. What was published were actual crimes, and even if I used them as reference, it does not constitute a violation of copyright," a statement from Iura and the publisher said.

"I'm baffled by the one-sided claim, and I feel deep anger at being accused of plagiarism. The stories are original," Iura said. He admitted, however, that he had not referred to any other material besides the lawyer's novel.

Source: MangaBlog