Chinese contemporary writer, scriptwriter and drama producer Qiong Yao has asked Hunan TV to stop airing "The Palace: The Lost Daughter" on grounds that its storyline was copied from "The Plum Blossom Brand."

However, the television station has not responded to Qiong's appeal and continues to air the drama in question, according to Guangzhou Morning Newspaper.

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Qiong Yao addressed the open-letter appeal to the State Administration of Radio Film and Television, claiming that "The Place: The Lost Daughter" was copied by its writer, Yu Zheng, from her 1993 drama, "The Plum Blossom Brand".

Wong Jing, a Hong Kong famous film maker, commented on Weibo that "Plagiarism is the biggest evil creation sector."

However, an anonymous lawyer opined that legally, Yu did not infringe copyright and can only be condemned on moral grounds because the copyright law only protects the superficial form but not the main idea behind a creative work.

"Although Qiong insisted that the lead characters' circumstances and relationships in 'The Place: The Lost Daughter' were the same as her 'The Plum Blossom', these all belong to main idea. [Yu] does not directly copy the written language, so these do not belong to the area of plagiarism. [Yu] does not infringe copyright," the lawyer said.

A friend of Qiong said the scriptwriter might quit writing due to the infringement incident, 21CN reported on Sunday.

Qiong's crusade on the copyright infringement issue has the support of more than 30 million fans, but Qiong still feels frustrated that Hunan TV has not stopped airing "The Place: The Lost Daughter".