“1899”: the Brazilian author accuses the Netflix series of plagiarism; understand the case

Brazilian cartoonist Mary Cagnin posted on her social media an accusation that the new German Netflix series “1899”, by the same creators of the hit “Dark”, was a copy of her work, released in 2016.

The work in question is the comic “Black Silence”, a science fiction story set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future. The comic was released in 2016 with the help of crowdfunding. For this Cagnin won the award for Best Stylist at the Angelo Agostini Trophy, and received three nominations for the HQMix Award.

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In turn, “1899” is also a science fiction series that arrived on Netflix last Thursday (17). The series was highly anticipated because it was created by Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar, architects of the success of the “Dark” genre, another German series that conquered the world. Ever since the duo announced this new production in collaboration with Netflix, expectations have remained high.

The series has been well-evaluated by critics, but now faces the charge of the Brazilian artist. She explains the author in a Twitter thread, in which she points out the similarities between her work and the Netflix series.

The author’s allegations point to copies at various points in her work, from visual representations to narrative elements. In addition to those reported by the author, other people have looked for and pointed out similarities between the comic and the series.

Cagnin explained that “Black Silence” is a short work, which could have facilitated a potential copy. “It’s very easy, in 12 hours of screening of the series, to dilute all these ‘references’, but the essence of what I created is there,” says the author.

Also, explain how the authors might have accessed the work. “You may be wondering: how is this possible? Well, in 2017 I was invited by the Brazilian embassy to participate in the Gothenburg Book Fair, a very famous and influential international fair in Europe,” said Mary Cagnin on Twitter.

He continued, “I’ve sat on panels and distributed the Black Silence comic to countless publishers and people in the industry. It’s not hard to imagine my work reaching out to them. Not only have I delivered the physical comic, but I’ve also made the translated into English”.

The author was quite shaken by the matter and lamented the lack of recognition. “I have cried a lot. My dream has always been to be recognized nationally and internationally for my work. And to see something like this happen really breaks my heart. We know that in Brazil we have few opportunities to showcase our work and be recognized for it.”

Finally, the author made the comic “Black Silence” available and asked people to read the work, which is available for free on the site in e-book format, and draw their own conclusions.

The creators of “1899” deny plagiarism

The creators of the series have expressed themselves with the allegations of the Brazilian cartoonist, denying having copied the comic “Black Silence” to create “1899”.

Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar made posts on their Instagram accounts, where they denied the allegations. In Friese’s case, by the way, the post in which she denies plagiarism was the only posting in her account.

After the publication of this text, Friese closed his Instagram account, but the translation of the content of the post can be read in full below:

“Hello internet! I haven’t posted anything in years because, frankly, I think social media has become toxic. The last 24 hours have proved it once again. For context: a Brazilian artist claimed we stole from her graphic novel. To be clear: we didn’t! Until yesterday we didn’t even know of the existence of this graphic novel. Over two years, we have put pain, sweat and effort into creating 1899. This is an original idea and not based on any original material. However, we have been bombarded with messages, some of them nasty and offensive. Someone howls wolf and everyone jumps on them, not even checking if the claims make sense. Obviously this is supposed to be a scheme to sell their comics more – well played.

For his part, Baran bo Odar shared a text posted by a fan account of the series: “I wanted to keep quiet, but seeing the creators themselves receive offensive messages, which basically forced them to say something, is going too far. They are both incredibly talented people and work very hard to create their own ORIGINAL stories. It makes me extremely angry and sad to see so many attending Mass, not knowing what they are talking about. 1899 is a special project they have been working on for many years and it has nothing to do with comics. But if you saw the show and read the comics, you would know about it and we wouldn’t have those conversations. I will always be there and defend them because I know what they create is always something unique.”

In addition to sharing the image with the fan’s statement, Odar commented in the post’s caption, “Thank you @1899netflix for such kind words. They mean a lot to us. As I said in my previous post: Unfortunately we don’t know the artist, nor his work or his comic. We would never steal from other artists because we feel like artists. We have also reached out to you, so we hope you withdraw these allegations. The internet has become a strange place. please more love instead of hate. Thank you. Bo”.

The comic “Black Silence” is available on the author’s official website (here🇧🇷 The series “1899” can be watched on Netflix.

The “1899” post: the Brazilian author accuses the Netflix series of plagiarism; understand the case first appeared in Olhar Digital.

Source: Olhar Digital

Camila

Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.