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The theme song for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai has been suspended due to allegations of plagiarism.
The expo secretariat says that the song may have been lifted from a popular Japanese song released in 1997.
The heads of the expo removed the song over fears of a potential lawsuit over copyright infringement, reported The Associated Press on Saturday.
The Chinese song “Right Here Waiting For You” apparently takes the melody and structure from the Japanese song “Sono Mama no Kimi de Ite” by Mayo Okamoto. The allegations have been reported in several major Japanese and Chinese media outlets.
The World Expo starts on May 1 and runs until Oct. 31. The Standard reports that Yan Yu Tian, a renowned Chinese composer, said the Chinese and the Japanese songs sound 97 percent similar.
