The ASCII Art Video Controversy: Plagiarism Claims and Code Attribution

In November 2024, a controversy erupted when a well-known Chinese content creator faced accusations of plagiarism regarding their viral video titled “I Made an Animation with 360,000 Lines of Notes.” The creator initially claimed they had written specialized software to convert video frames into ASCII art, but viewers discovered the code was actually modified from an open-source project called ASCII-generator.

The technical implementation at the heart of the controversy involves converting video frames into ASCII art, a process that transforms visual content into text characters to create artistic effects. The original open-source project on GitHub, created by Viet Nguyen, provided the core functionality that was later modified.

Key findings from the code analysis revealed:

• The creator removed the original author’s copyright notice
• Function names were altered, such as changing “get” to “set”
• Parameter names and default values were modified
• The core conversion algorithm remained largely unchanged

While the MIT license permits code modification and reuse, it requires maintaining the original copyright notice and attribution. The creator’s initial failure to acknowledge the source violated these terms.

After public criticism, the creator issued an apology stating the video script was “not rigorous enough” and they had failed to properly communicate that the program was modified from an open-source project. They subsequently:

• Updated the video source and script
• Added proper attribution to the original project
• Acknowledged their oversight in the review process
• Initiated internal discussions about content verification

The incident sparked broader discussions about:

• Ethics in content creation and code attribution
• The balance between entertainment and technical accuracy
• Responsibility of influencers when presenting technical content
• Proper implementation of open-source licenses

Technical community members demonstrated that the core functionality could be replicated in as few as 30 lines of code, challenging claims about the project’s complexity. Others noted that while the creator excels at video production and storytelling, their technical presentations would benefit from more rigorous fact-checking and transparent attribution.

This case highlights the importance of proper attribution in technical content creation and the challenges content creators face when balancing entertainment value with technical accuracy.