Breaking News: ReelShort Hit by Wave of Plagiarism Accusations
July 25, 2025 — The storm around copyright in the booming vertical short-drama industry has intensified.
The controversy first broke when Dianzhong Technology (the company of DramaBox App) issued a statement on its official WeChat account, accusing Crazy Maple Studio, Inc. with its short-drama platform ReelShort of publishing and distributing multiple series “nearly identical” to Dianzhong’s copyrighted works without authorization.
The alleged infringing titles include (but are not limited to):
Leaving, and Both Childhood Sweethearts Regretted It to Madness, The Queen, Respecting the Elderly and Caring for the Young, and The Wanderer Returns Home.
Following Dianzhong’s statement, more industry leaders spoke up. Ting Huadao and Malt Short Drama, two of China’s most prominent short-drama studios, released their own strongly worded declarations, accusing ReelShort of “serious and repeated plagiarism” and calling for stronger copyright protection across the sector.
📌 What’s at Stake
Ting Huadao claims that two of its hit IP dramas, The Vegetable Vendor Turns Out to Be the Duchess and The Cold Uncle Spoils His Sister-in-Law Endlessly, were copied scene-for-scene by ReelShort titles The Seamstress Is The Duchess and Mated to My Brother-in-Law Alpha.
Malt Short Drama also reported similar issues, adding more weight to what now appears to be an industry-wide backlash against ReelShort.
ReelShort, operated by Maple Leaf Interactive, is widely recognized as the leading platform for exporting Chinese short dramas overseas, which makes these allegations all the more shocking.
📌 Why This Case Matters
For years, China’s content industry has been criticized for weak copyright enforcement, but this wave of statements marks a turning point.
Dianzhong’s initial declaration lit the fuse, and now other top studios are speaking out, publicly demanding accountability instead of settling disputes quietly.
Frankly, this is encouraging to see. It signals that copyright isn’t just a legal checkbox anymore, it’s becoming part of the industry’s values and public discourse.
📌 The Bigger Picture
Ironically, Crazy Maple Studio, Inc.’s parent company, Chinese Online (COL), is a founding member of the China Copyright Association’s Micro-Drama Committee.
“The industry’s #1 company should also be #1 in ethics — not #1 in plagiarism,” Ting Huadao wrote in its own statement.
Meanwhile, regulators have been issuing new rules emphasizing IP protection in vertical mini-dramas, making ReelShort’s alleged behavior even more controversial.
It started with one studio speaking up (Dianzhong). Then others followed (Ting Huadao, Malt, and more). And now, the conversation isn’t just about ReelShort, it’s about where the short-drama industry is heading.
