Over the weekend since its launch, a Brazilian comic book artist alleged that the creators of the show stole her work without any credit for it. Since this is one allegation that can make or break the show’s future, it’s important to closely scrutinize the show if it actually committed plagiarism. Here’s what we know about this:
Where Did the 1899 Accusations of Plagiarism Come From?
The plagiarism accusations first started via Twitter after Mariana Cagnin made the claims just two days after the show made its premiere. The Brazilian comic book artist alleged that 1899 copied her comic, Black Silence. Cagnin’s tweet translates to: “I’M IN SHOCK.” She then explains how the two are identical.
On issuu, the description of the comic book reads: “In the future, Earth’s days are almost over. A team of astronauts is summoned to recognize a planet that may be the only chance of survival of human kind.”
Are There Any Similarities Between 1899 and Black Silence?
Decider made a thorough look into the two to look for any similarities that could prove the creators of 1899 plagiarized the comic book. From the two materials, the properties that the two share include a crew composed of diverse individuals, outer space, and the pyramids. The analysis made by Decider revealed very little proof that 1899 was plagiarized. If anything, these things could purely be coincidental. For starters, having a divisive crew is no longer unique to any show at this point. There are plenty of other shows that feature multi-cultural crew members on board a vehicle. And Black Silence uses a spacecraft while 1899 uses a steamship. Another similarity are the pyramids portrayed in the show. However, that’s as far as these pyramids are connected. In Black Silence, the black pyramid drives the crew members mad as they are evil in the comic. Meanwhile in 1899, the pyramids are neutral in the series but are used as a device that operates the simulations in the show.
Lastly, the idea that the setting is plagiarized is a bit of an overstretch. Black Silence takes place in outer space and with astronauts. 1899 uses space as a twist (spoiler alert) and that everything was actually a simulation. Even though Maura (played by Emily Beecham) wakes up to discover that she’s on board a spaceship, it doesn’t prove the fact that 1899 plagiarized Black Silence since plenty of other sci-fi shows take place in one. Cagnin also pointed to the use of codes and suicide as a similarity between her comic and the show. But again, these two are far too different from each other. The concept between the two are far too different from each other to be considered the same.
Did 1899 Plagiarize Black Silence?
So did 1899 plagiarize Black Silence? At this point, neither Netflix or the show’s creators have commented on Cagnin’s accusation. If the allegation is serious and strong enough, Cagnin may be able to take it to court and prove that her work was copied. But in our book, it’s a far stretch that has to be proved individually.
1899 is available to watch on Netflix right now.
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