SHANGHAI (Kyodo) Use of the theme song for the World Expo in Shanghai has been suspended amid allegations that it is a plagiarized version of a Japanese song from 1997, according to the expo's Web site.
The expo's secretariat said it is concerned about potential copyright conflicts and that a final decision will be made after its investigation into the matter concludes, the secretariat said.
Japanese media reports and Chinese Web sites have focused on the melody of the expo theme song, which is said to be identical to "Sono Mama no Kimi de Ite," a song released in Japan in January 1997 by pop singer Mayo Okamoto.