In 1979 around the time TVB released Chor Lau-heung, another Hong Kong television station RTV produced a similar television series titled It Takes a Thief. TVB and RTV became involved in copyright lawsuits against each other because of similarities between Chor Lau-heung and It Takes a Thief. TVB won the lawsuits and eventually RTV had to change the Chinese title of It Takes a Thief, and the names of characters in the television series. It Takes a Thief started airing on 1 September 1979, two days earlier than TVB's Chor Lau-heung.
