Rock and Roll: Glorious Years

Bian Lang truly hadn't expected Sima Jiatou to use this as a point of attack. The military songs from both timelines were identical, and the authors of both were already deceased. Bian Lang felt that this kind of dead-end situation was truly unsolvable, especially since the copyright of these military songs should...

"What should Old Cui do if he encounters this situation?" While wandering around, he thought to himself and walked until he arrived at the front of the record store.

As for Sima Nan's last accusation, Bian Lang had thought of it, but he felt there was no need to pay attention to it. He hadn't vilified the military song, and no matter how much he raised the issue, it wouldn't be used against him.

After settling things off with Zhu Yan about the record store, the name naturally had to be changed to Rock Records. Today, the workers came to remove the old lettering on the storefront, and Zhu Yan said he would try to remove it as completely as possible, as he wanted to keep it as a memento.

So Bian Lang came over early in the morning to keep an eye on things.

Chen Shuting arrived just then and asked Bian Lang, "Did you see Sima Nan in that video?"

"I've seen it. I think that Sima Nan's claim is really far-fetched. He can't even distinguish between homage and plagiarism. Let's ignore him and wait to see what netizens have to say. Who would respond to something like this where the real person can't be found? As for that big accusation at the end, I really want to see what netizens have to say."

Chen Shuting nodded, then continued, "Olaf is flying over next Monday. We'll check on Nanyin's equipment then. If it's not working, we'll have to go to Beijing."

"That would be perfect for bringing your husband and son over together. By the way, Sister Chen, my sister inquired about your son's schooling. Without a local household registration, it's quite difficult to get him into a public school. You two should discuss whether it's better to send him to a private school for a year first and then get him into a private school after you buy a house, or to go for it now."

"Thank you, Bian Lang. I was just thinking of bringing this up with you after I finished this busy period, but I didn't expect you to have already taken care of it for me."

"Of course, you've come all this way, and it would be really unfair if I, a local, didn't help you figure these things out..." Actually, given Bian Lang's personality, he couldn't possibly have thought of these things even in both his lives combined. Fortunately, he has a good older sister who considers everything for him.

"Oh, right, my husband told me something..."

After Chen Shuting finished explaining about the mask, Bian Lang was surprised that his casual action had such an effect. He hadn't thought much about choosing to make the V for the V character; it was simply because the mask had left the deepest impression on him.

"It's my original design. We'll discuss this in person when your husband arrives..."

While the two were talking, the internet erupted in arguments again. Sima Nan's fans, after listening to "Rock 'n' Roll on the New Long March" last night, were holding back their anger.

If you say that Bian Lang's song doesn't have a Chinese style, then it really isn't the Chinese style they imagined. But with such popular and righteous lyrics, no one can find fault with it. However, having gotten used to following Sima Nan in his rants and rave, they were unwilling to be slapped in the face like this before.

So, the moment Sima Nan identified the problem, they all swarmed in.

"Heh, such petty schemes are hardly respectable!"

"Don't you rock musicians despise plagiarism the most? What's with this hypocrisy?"

"You dare to stage an incident involving military songs? Who gave you that right?!"

"So what if the lyrics are well-written? All you do is engage in these petty, underhanded things! Besides, what kind of background and experience do you have to dare to use this kind of subject matter in your work?"

"Yeah, the lyrics are fine, but pairing them with this music is just incongruous and blatantly Western-worshipping!"

"In other words, the composer has passed away and can't confront you, but the public has discerning eyes; the entertainment industry doesn't need scum like you!"

These people didn't care whether Sima Nan's explanation was reasonable or not; they just launched a fierce attack on him, completely ignoring how Bian Lang's supporters tried to explain the difference between homage and plagiarism.

"You call this plagiarism? Then your son quoting a line of classical poetry in his essay is plagiarism too? Aren't you afraid that Li Bai and Du Fu will come and drag your son away in their dreams?!"

"What era are we living in? Why are you still playing that seniority game? As long as the work is excellent and the author isn't biased, who cares about Bian Lang's background or experience? If you're so capable, why don't you write something for everyone to hear?"

"Heh, my grandpa said he'll burn paper money for my great-grandfather right now and pass on the message! Take all of you clueless trolls down to the front lines to criticize the Japanese devils!"

Last night, Bai Dao wrote thousands of words praising "Rock 'n' Roll on the New Long March" with tears in his eyes. Now, after watching Sima Nan's video, he's furious: "This idiot, doesn't he even look at what he's saying? This isn't a commentary; it's completely misleading netizens and distorting their sense of right and wrong!"

Moreover, he's now considered the number one critic of the "wave" (a term referring to a specific type of online personality), second only to Bian Lang in terms of the number of haters he has. Because he dares to speak his mind, he's been criticized a lot by fans of his idols.

But this is the first time I've ever been so badly criticized by strangers for praising someone.

"It's because there are clueless online influencers like 'Dead Horse Man' that there are so many mindless keyboard warriors and trolls!"

Thinking of this, Bai Dao set up his phone and started recording a video.

More than ten minutes later, Bai Dao, wearing a black shirt, appeared in the video. The scene and camera angles were casual, but what he said was very serious:

"Hello everyone, I'm Bai Dao. Today, taking advantage of Sima Nan's questioning of Bian Lang's plagiarism of military songs, I'd like to talk to you about the difference between plagiarism and homage."

In general, homage falls under the category of derivative works. Compared to parody and imitation, homage can be considered a more subtle form of creative expression, allowing for similarities in content, form, and style. A good homage builds upon and expands upon the original work. To determine if a work is an homage, consider three aspects: first, does it possess its own independent content separate from the original? Second, does it inherit and extend the original work's content? Third, does it contain elements that are similar to the representative content of the original?

So what is plagiarism? Simply put, it's copying and pasting, then replacing the name with your own. That's called plagiarism!

Let me analyze Bian Lang's work. I believe there is no dispute about the lyrics. Apart from the core idea being the same, Bian Lang's work and military songs have no similarities in terms of lyrics.

The most controversial thing is the music. Here I also want to correct a mistake in Sima Nan's comment: Bian Lang's new song and the military song have absolutely no similarities in composition. Bian Lang's composition style is pop rock, while the military song is a march. In terms of style, they are completely different types.

However, in the saxophone arrangement, Bian Lang changed the melody of an eight-bar military song to four bars, which I personally think is a tribute…”

As a die-hard fan of Bian Lang, I was absolutely furious with those ignorant trolls online today. They keep saying the same old tricks.

"Plagiarizing military songs—what right do they have? They're just blindly worshipping foreign things!"

Now that someone with influence has finally stepped forward to provide a professional interpretation, she immediately began organizing people to voice their support.

But this doesn't seem to have had much effect; those mindless keyboard warriors all stick to the same story:

"Who do you think you are, Bai Dao? What right do you have to make comments?"

"Who do you think you are, you little witch? As a music blogger, instead of promoting Chinese culture, you spend all your time popularizing those foreign things. I suspect your stance is problematic!"

This commotion has already made it to the trending topics, and Bian Lang naturally knows about it. He's speechless about this situation; public opinion has been proven countless times on Earth that the side with the right doesn't always have the advantage.

For example, that internet celebrity who sold fake bird's nest—if it weren't for professional anti-counterfeiting activist Wang Hai jumping out and making things bigger, and the first consumer who stood up to question whether the bird's nest was just sugar water, she probably would have been cyberbullied to the point of mental breakdown by those "family members."

Now, Bian Lang isn't worried about Bai Dao. The mental fortitude of this seasoned veteran is unmatched by most. But if Sima Nan's supporters, like his "family," target ordinary people like Little Witch for online harassment, then that's not the original intention behind his song!

Thinking of this, Bian Lang took out his phone and posted a message on his Weibo: "Thank you to all my friends who support me! Haters, come at me if you want to criticize, don't drag the music fans into it! I like men who are even faster than me @BaiDao!"