A group of attractive young people live in adjacent apartments and spend a lot of time hanging out in coffee shops and talking about their lives.
一群魅力四射的年轻人住在相邻的公寓中，常常聚在咖啡馆中畅谈人生。
The Chinese TV sitcom Ipartment, which ended its third season recently, may have made the audience laugh. But it's also the target of criticism.
刚刚播完的国产情景喜剧《爱情公寓III》或许为许多观众都带来了欢笑，但同时也成为了众矢之的。
Viewers are complaining that dialogue and scenes have been copied from the US hit sitcom Friends and other TV shows.
观众纷纷抱怨，剧中的许多对话和场景都明显在抄袭热门美剧《老友记》和其他电视节目。
Zhang Yan, 22, a fan of Western soap operas from Zhengzhou, Henan, established cpartment.com, where he and other viewers post screen shots after each new episode, comparing it to US sitcoms to demonstrate possible plagiarism.
22岁的张彦（音译）来自河南郑州，身为西方肥皂剧迷的他建起了一个名为"抄袭公寓"的网站。每次《爱情公寓》新一集播出后，他和其他观众就会上传一些视频截图，并与美剧相对照，指出涉嫌抄袭的桥段。
According to Zhang, at least 16 of the sitcom's 24 episodes have more than 70 percent of their plot directly copied from seven Western serials including How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory and IT Crowd.
张彦表示，在《爱情公寓III》的24集剧情中至少有16集，70%以上的情节照搬《老爸老妈浪漫史》，《生活大爆炸》以及《IT狂人》等7部西方剧集。
With an average of 3,000 to 4,000 clicks every day, the website has caused many Internet users to denounce and boycott the show.
该网站的平均日点击量达到3000—4000，受其影响，许多网友公开谴责并抵制该剧集。
"I don't mean to ruin Ipartment. I just want to put pressure on some Chinese directors and scriptwriters. I hope they stop copying," he told China Daily.
他在接受《中国日报》记者采访时表示："我不是存心想要诋毁《爱情公寓》。我只是想给国内的一些导演和编剧施点压。希望他们能停止抄袭行为。"
Wang Yuan, Ipartment's scriptwriter, admitted on Sina Weibo that he's a die-hard fan of American sitcoms and that he tries to progress and innovate through imitation.
《爱情公寓》的编剧汪远在新浪微博上承认自己是美国情景喜剧的铁杆粉丝，表示自己试图在学习中进步，在模仿中创新。
He would be glad, he wrote, if he could emulate one-tenth of what they are doing right. Later, in an interview with Sina.com, Wang said he has used American sitcoms' narrative rhythms, classic story arcs and jokes as a reference.
他写道，如果能学到他们的十分之一，他就已经很欣慰了。在新浪网后来的一次采访中，汪远表示自己只是把美国情景喜剧中的叙事节奏、经典的故事脉络和笑料当做参考。
However, a spokesperson of the show surnamed Cao denied plagiarism in an interview with Southern Metropolis Daily.
但该剧发言人曹某却在《南方都市报》的一次采访中否认了抄袭之说。
"Comedies have stereotypes, like the handsome man, the gorgeous woman, the cheap man and so on. They have that in many comedies," Cao said. "Our creation is not plagiarism, but more a homage to the American sitcom."
他说："喜剧都很老套，帅男，美女，还有屌丝等等，很多喜剧都会有。我们的创作不是剽窃，而是对美国情景喜剧的一种致敬。"
The show, which is "just entertainment" according to Wang, has won many fans (presumably teenagers who aren't old enough to have watched series such as Friends).
这部汪远口中"仅供娱乐"的剧集赢得了众多粉丝的追捧（大概是那些年龄太小还没看过《老友记》之类剧集的青少年人群）。
But a copycat case like this leaves fewer chances for hardworking writers who spend years creating high-quality work, because producers tend to choose quick writers who can finish a script in a couple of months.
但像此类的抄袭事件，却使得那些呕心沥血、苦干多年只求创作精品的剧作家们前途更加渺茫，因为制片人倾向于选择那些几个月就能写一个剧本的快餐式作家。
"The reason that plagiarism hasn't stopped is because it hasn't been punished so far," veteran scriptwriter Liu Hua told China Daily.
资深编剧刘华（音译）在接受《中国日报》记者采访时表示："剽窃仍大行其道，原因就在于到目前为止还未得到严惩。"
"But the power of the Internet may improve the situation. People have a broad view, and you can't possibly cheat about anything."
"但是网络的力量已使得状况有所改观。人们的视野开阔了，任何事情都瞒不过大众的眼睛。"