TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese rapper MC HotDog on Tuesday (Sept. 5) admitted to plagiarizing the lyrics of his new single from the manga composed by the famous Taiwanese graphic novelist Zhu Deyong (朱德庸).

In a statement posted on his Instagram, MC HotDog publically admitted that his song "The Tenants Downstairs" (樓下的房客), which had been released in August, had plagiarized one of the panels from Zhu's work, "Nothing New Happening" (什麼事都在發生), published in 2004. He stated that it specifically came from the section titled "Jumping Off the Building" (跳樓).

The rapper claimed that while undergoing quarantine last year, he began looking through old emails for inspiration. He said that a short text he read on the internet in 2004 that was shared in an email at the time inspired him to compose the song "The Tenants Downstairs."

According to MC HotDog, it was not until the song came out that he was informed that it contained content similar to Zhu's manga. He said that he wanted to thank Zhu for his work which inspired him to write the song, and he would like to use it to pay tribute to him.

However, the song has been taken down from the internet, and the music video that was to be released soon has been shelved indefinitely. The rapper said, "Everyone in our company, including myself, have committed a very low-level and serious error."

When asked by ETtoday to comment on the incident, Zhu said that he wanted a public apology and public clarification. He said that if there is no apology and clarification, "There will be confusion in the years to come, and no one will remember this incident years from now."

However, Zhu said that he accepts MC HotDog's apology, but he is not willing to authorize the use of his content in this situation. Zhu stated that his works are authorized after detailed planning with his business partners, and that "the practice of getting on the bus first and then paying the fare later does not align with my authorization process."