Ahn In-bae, the head of a South Korean production company, says he has trouble sleeping because of a very common problem his peers are facing: Chinese networks that plagiarize, and massively benefit from, their shows.

"In plain sight, they're stealing my ideas, but there's nothing I can do to stop or punish them," the CEO of Koen Group, the creator of the popular South Korean reality series "The Return of Superman," said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Sunday.

Ahn said he has asked the South Korean media watchdog to devise a protocol for resolving copyright issues between South Korean and Chinese networks. But as the two countries tip-toe around other issues, such as illegal Chinese fishing in South Korean waters, Ahn's request will likely go unanswered for the foreseeable future, industry insiders say.

What has aggravated Ahn recently is Jiangsu TV's copying of "CPR Song," a two-part music show that aired on the South Korean terrestrial network SBS last year. The premise of the show was to introduce songs that had not made the cut as the lead single of an album but were nonetheless deemed noteworthy. Initially, Ahn said his company exchanged letters with Jiangsu, confirming their joint production of the show in China.

The talks fell through, however, with the Chinese network asking to own the show's copyright in China. After Koen refused, Jiangsu "unilaterally aired the plagiarized show," which went on to rank No. 1 in the same time slot in China, Ahn said.

Lack of domestic oversight has made the matter worse, as South Korean production companies typically relinquish copyrights to networks that air their shows. The local state broadcaster KBS, for instance, owns "The Return of Superman," and "CPR Song" is the only show whose copyright is held by Koen. South Korean networks, which often do business with their Chinese counterparts, also lack the incentive to pursue infringement cases due to conflicts of interest.

The only solution, according to Ahn, is to raise awareness about the gravity of the issue of copyright infringements in China.

South Korea used to have a poor track record with intellectual property rights too, with local networks copying Japanese shows illegally. The real reason they stopped is "because we became afraid of our viewers' criticism," Ahn said.

Fortunately, for Ahn, an online movement has taken his side on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter. A video comparing Ahn's "CPR Song" with the Chinese copycat version was viewed 150 million times, making it the third-most viewed post on the website.

"If more Chinese viewers held their networks accountable, they would start signing formal contracts with South Korean producers,"

Ahn said. "That's why we need to keep this conversation going." (Yonhap)