Official statement on the controversy over suspected plagiarism of Idealian dolls

Thank you for loving our doll.
First of all, we’re thankful to our fans who concerned over the recent issue.

As a group of artists creating the Soom doll, we are sorry for the controversy over the suspicion of plagiarism. Due to this issue, all of the artists and executives of Soom were greatly disappointed.

Soom’s artists have been striving to create original dolls through various aesthetic explorations for a long time. As a result, Soom’s unique identity has been recognized by customers, and we are striving to keep it.

When artists are creating for a long time with own aesthetic standards, the originality will naturally be revealed, and many artists are working tirelessly to get it recognized by the public.

If someone newly sculpted a specific work as a motif in their own differentiated style from start to finish, it is recognized as another work that reinterprets the original work. On the other hand, if the work itself is imitated as it is, or only partially transformed or added, it will inevitably become similar to the original work, which can lead to suspicion of plagiarism.

“Plagiarism” means not only when two works are similar, but also when they have a similar overall feeling. Also plagiarism does not necessarily have to be intentional, and plagiarism can be regared as negligence even if it is not intentional.
Intentional plagiarism can result in criminal penalties, and although there is no intentional plagiarism, if plagiarism occurs due to negligence, it will be subject to civil liability.

Therefore, when producing a creation, it should be careful because it may be plagiarized someone else’s creation unconsciously. For all artists, the plagiarism controversy in itself is very dishonorable and faced with moral and ethical criticism, so all creators themselves should have strict standards to avoid such unpleasant issues.

In art work, it is very difficult to distinguish and define creation and imitation because the boundaries are ambiguous. As the famous saying, ‘Imitation is the mother of creation’, you may think that some degree of imitation can be admitted in art work.
Moreover, the creation of a doll is a representation of the original human form, so it is easier to think more easily.

Personally there have been many cases of inspired creations or customizing the Soom dolls. Some of them have been controversial as some are selling commercially rather than purely personal work, and it is even illegally copied and sold in earnest. It is only a difference in degree, but it is an act of infringing on the copyright of others and deceived customers in the end.

Plagiarism without intention is also plagiarism, and if coincidences are overlapped, it is likely plagiarism.
If this controversy continues to be repeated and it is judged that it is damaging the original author’s of Soom and Soom’s customers, we will not neglect and request the collected dolls to a specialized agency to objectively verify whether plagiarism is found, and if plagiarism is judged, we will take corresponding actions.

The reason why ball joint dolls have been able to developed so far is the honest hard work of many artists who constantly create original dolls,
and customers who appreciate the workmanship and value of the dolls.
We hope that this issue will serve as an opportunity for not only us but also many artists to work harder to meet the high expectations of the customers.
Also we hope that a creative environment in which all works are respected and protected.
Thank you.

SOOM