Actress and soloist IU has again been hit by issues of plagiarism and is suspected of violating the Copyright Act in making several of her songs, and this is the agency's response.
IU is currently facing accusations of plagiarism and infringement of the Copyright Act in the production of six of her songs, and this is not the first time IU has been caught up in a copyright infringement case.
For now, both IU and the agency have yet to provide a statement regarding allegations of violating the Work Copyright Act for all of IU's works.
Today Wednesday, May 10, 2023, Maeil Business reports that IU has been reported by a civilian for allegedly plagiarizing six songs.
IU's hit single "The Red Shoes" and five other tracks were reported by civilians at the Seoul Gangnam Police Station for suspicion of violating copyright laws.
According to B's report, he claimed that IU copied foreign and domestic artists' music in six of his songs including "The Red Shoes", "Good Day", Pitiful", and "Celebrity".
The plagiarism case involving IU is not just this time, she has also been seen with the same case but denied it several times in the past.
What attracted quite a bit of attention was the song "The Red Shoes" which aroused too many suspicions of plagiarism after its release.
On December 20, 2023, IU's full album Modern Times was released with the title track "The Red Shoes" and this song was immediately criticized for being similar to singer Nekta's "Here's Us".
At the time, IU's former agency, Loen Entertainment, denied the allegations, saying that, both "The Red Shoes" and "Here's Us" had different chords.
"'Here's Us' and one part of 'The Red Shoes' may sound similar in melody, but the chord arrangements of the two songs are very different. 'Here's Us' uses a dominant scale chord progression with B-Flat major basic chords," said a representative from Loen Entertainment.
Even because of the accusations given to IU, HYBE Director Bang Shi Hyuk put up his body to defend IU through his SNS.
"For those who say IU's 'The Red Shoes' is plagiarism, it is a cliché in music, because in some genres there is such a thing as a cliché, and if 'The Red Shoes' is plagiarism then all swing jazz songs are considered plagiarism," said Bang Shi Hyuk.
Not only Bang Shi Hyuk, the famous composer Kim Hyung Seok also talked about the rhythm structure which is generally the same, and it makes no sense to be accused of plagiarism.
"The general rhythm structure is similar, like the rhythm arrangement of a fast electronic dance song, it doesn't make sense to see it as plagiarism," he explained.
Even though they have received explanations from agencies and well-known musicians, there are still those who are suspicious, and also today news came out that IU was reported again.
Some netizens gave reactions such as:
"They are too similar"
"How many songs did he plagiarize?"
"And I hope the truth will come out,"
Meanwhile, IU's agency, EDAM Entertainment, has not given any statement to date. /kpopchart.net
