Reports coming out of the Far East would suggest that CCTV (China Central TV) is regularly using footage from Western films and TV shows without paying any royalties.
Back in 2004, the then European Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, made the same allegations but nothing was ever proved, largely due to the difficulties obtaining evidence from a state that still maintains such strict control over all forms of media.
In these times of social networking and mobile phones with cameras, however, it is much more difficult for government agencies to achieve a 100% lock down.
Now a few observers have commented online that some footage from a story about a People's Liberation Army training exercise featured an explosion from the 1986 blockbuster, Top Gun.
In a report shown on BBC's newsnight, an editor on the CCTV news programme that broadcast the "Top Gun" footage vehemently denied all charges of plagiarism - before speeding away with his best friends Goose, Maverick, Cougar and Merlin.
