PLAGIARISM IN KPOP, WHO ARE THE IDOLS?

Plagiarism is one of the controversies that can cause K-Pop idols to receive sharp criticism from the public. Moreover, this action violated the law and was detrimental to the party whose work was plagiarized.

Actually, plagiarism is no longer a new thing in the South Korean entertainment industry. The proof is that the following K-Pop idols have stumbled upon a case of song plagiarism which has a bad impact on their image in the public eye. Keep in mind, even though there is rarely originality nowadays and with this saturated industry, it’s hard to figure out the original source, as everything is inspired by.

Here is the list!

1. Soyeon GIDLE

(G)I-DLE's Soyeon admits that the song "SUN" is plagiarism. Her apology came one day after she unveiled her self-written track, "Sun," on MBC's audition program, "My Teenage Girl." In its last episode that aired Sunday, Soyeon, who appeared as a mentor for female singer hopefuls, gifted "Sun" for them to perform in the finale. Some viewers, however, pointed out that the tune sounds similar to ATEEZ's "Wave," which was written by producer Eden-ary. 

According to Cube Entertainment, Soyeon has spoken directly to the original song producer to apologize and explain the situation. Even so, the agency did not deny that the song was released as is without prior approval and discussion with the producer of the song "Wave". The agency of the boy group also stated that it did not give permission for the song to be used even though the producer's name was included in the credit.

The incident took place without any prior discussion," KQ said in a statement. "We hope the incorrect information gets fixed as soon as possible."

2. Lee Hyori

Lee Hyori often stumbles upon plagiarism controversies, including for the song "Get Ya!" accused of being similar to Britney Spears' "Do Somethin'". Amid an escalating plagiarism debate, pop star Lee Hyo-ri admitted herself that several tracks from her fourth album were indeed borrowed, Yonhap News reported Sunday. Her agency Mnet Media plans to sue the songwriter who gave the songs to Lee if the songs in question are proven to breach copyright laws.

Meanwhile, Lee hyori also admitted that she did not expect this, and even got depressed because she thought she would be successful with her latest work.

In addition, "H-Logic" also earned Lee Hyori criticism in 2010. A rookie composer offered her the song, but it turned out to be plagiarized from popular British songs. Lee Hyori went on to say she knew her fans were very sad at the time, and she stated it was her fault. “It’s a relief that I’m able to talk about that time now with a smile,” she continued. “I got through it thanks to my friends and fans who supported me.”

3. T-ARA HYOMIN

The similarity of the lyrics to Hyomin's song "Nice Body" with Zico's songs became a hot topic in online communities in 2014. In this regard, the idol stated on his personal Twitter that he worked on the song with producers such as Taewoon and Zico.

According to her, Zico did help him write the lyrics which were considered plagiarism. Zico also confirmed the statement, stating that Hyomin asked for permission to use some of the lyrics from his mixtape. He apologized for not telling this beforehand.

Not all of the idols above are as guilty as the public accusations against them. They also did not stay silent in handling the case by immediately apologizing to the producer if they were guilty and explaining the misunderstanding if they did not commit plagiarism.

4. IU

 In 2013, IU stumbled upon the issue of plagiarism for her song "Red Shoes" which sounded very similar to Nekta's song, "Here's Us". LOEN Entertainment as the agency of the soloist immediately denied this claim from the public. Red Shoes” uses chords in the key of B flat minor, and “Here’s Us” is in the key of B flat major. Moreover, they explained more specifically that upon review of the chorus and first verse, key parts of the song, as well as the bridge in the latter half, including the overall composition and arrangement, the song was revealed as a completely different song.

On the other hand, Lee Min Soo and other international music experts analyzed that the two songs have clear differences in the progressive part of the chord. Even so, there are still many netizens who claim that the two have a melody that is too similar and consider it plagiarism. Netizens and listeners remain divided on the issue, commenting, "All musical songs sound similar, but the two songs are very similar," "Maybe it's a sample? What is this, I hope someone explains soon," and "It's a common melody in swing jazz. I don't think it's a controversy."

5. HEIZE

Heize was accused of plagiarizing the song "Autumn Breeze" from JIDA in 2016. Her song, STAR, came out on December 5 in South Korea, immediately taking over the music charts with her new image and sound.  However, a portion of people noted that the song sounded similar to JIDA's "Autumn Breeze" dropped earlier in October. In response, the soloist admitted that she had been working on the song since August. Heize continued with her message, stating, “There are some people who are raising questions and saying that a track released in October sounds similar to mine. But the song was released two months after my song was featured on ‘I Live Alone,’ which is why I’m keeping this explanation short. I posted this message because I refuse to watch my precious fans get hurt by hearing these groundless rumors.”

Meanwhile, "Autumn Breeze" will only be released in October. Therefore, the song is not considered plagiarism because it was revealed to the public before "Autumn Breeze" was released. Heize himself revealed this because he didn't want to see his fans get hurt by these rumors.

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