Korean search engine Naver, and its subsidiary Line are in hot water after being accused of plagiarism in two separate instances. The complaints came from the CEOs of Carrot Market, an app for selling pre-loved items, and Tripstore, a travel curation and planning app. The apps in question include Naver’s travel tips platform, Naver Tour and Line’s Get It app.
Get It’s CEO Kim Jae-Hyun has expressed the uncanny similarity between their app Carrot Market and Line’s Get It app. Get It came out in Vietnam December last year. On the other hand, Carrot Market has been active since 2015. It has since gathered more than 2.8 million users. Jae-hyu alleged that the former app copied the latter with almost zero changes.
“Ranging from profile displays to product reviews, (Line’s designs) are exactly the same as ours,” Kim Jae-Hyun ranted on Facebook as he compared screenshots from both Line’s Get It and their Carrot Market app.
“The current screen and functions of carrot market are not made in one day. It started with the name of Pangyo Market on July 2015 and improved through several failures, trial and error. There is a reason for one small button,” his post continued.
Kim Soo-kwon, Tripstore’s CEO, likewise expressed his grievances on Facebook. He described the similarity between Tripstore and Naver’s travel tips platform as “dubiuos”. Tripstore was released last August 2018 while Naver Tour was introduced just this July 2018.
Line defended itself by saying that many apps use similar designs to appeal to their customers.
“There are many similar apps providing similar features across different regions,” said Line’s spokesperson in a press conference. “We have continued to develop our user interface and formats in accordance with our consumers’ needs,” he added.
What Is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is the act of copying another person or entities intellectual property. Korea’s copyright laws cover plagiarism. Companies proven to have violated Korea’s copyright laws can generally face fines of up to KWR 10,000,000. Intentional infringement for monetary gain, however, can reach a hefty fine of up to KRW 50,000,000.
Featured image grabbed from Naver website.
