"Caught Peeking Again"…China's 'Culinary Class Wars 2' Illegally Watched and Reviewed Openly

As the overseas popularity of the Netflix original series 〈Culinary Class Wars〉 Season 2 continues, it has been confirmed that some users in China have once again engaged in illegal viewing activities, reigniting copyright infringement controversies.

⬦ "Netflix is not available, but reviews?"…〈Culinary Class Wars 2〉 Appears on Douban

Professor Seo Kyung-duk from Sungshin Women's University revealed on his social media on the 23rd that a dedicated review page for 〈Culinary Class Wars 2〉 has already been established on Douban, China's largest review platform. As of the morning of the same day, over 70 reviews had been posted.

Considering that Netflix is not officially available in China, it is presumed that all these reviews were written after watching the content through illegal channels.

This is not the first instance of illegal viewing in China. During the airing of Season 1, a review page was also created on Douban, resulting in approximately 9,500 reviews and over 23,000 star ratings, leading to a large-scale illegal viewing controversy.

⬦ Was peeking not enough…Tencent's Imitation Variety Show 〈iFan Function〉 Controversy

The problem does not stop there. Tencent, a major Chinese IT company, has launched a cooking competition variety show 〈iFan Function〉 that imitates 〈Culinary Class Wars〉, sparking plagiarism controversies. In response, Netflix has clearly stated that it has never sold the rights to China, which is seen as a serious example of unauthorized use of content in China.

As illegal viewing and content imitation cases continue to recur in China, there are increasing calls for stronger responses from the Chinese authorities.

Professor Seo emphasized, "We can no longer allow the current situation where illegal viewing has become commonplace," and stated, "There is an urgent need for focused crackdowns on illegal activities within the country and practical measures to prevent recurrence."