The K-pop industry has been rocked by a wave of plagiarism accusations in recent months, with some of its biggest stars facing claims of copying music, choreography, and even entire concepts from other artists.
BLACKPINK’s Lisa, Jeon Somi, LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans, ILLIT, TWS, and others have found themselves at the center of the plagiarism controversy.
Lisa from BLACKPINK
BLACKPINK’s Lisa dropped first solo single after parting ways with YG Entertainment, establishing a personal label, LLOUD, and partnering with RCA Records.
Her latest single ROCKSTAR, dropped on June 28, was well-received by fans, however, it was embroiled in plagiarism controversy as soon as the MV dropped.
On July 6, acclaimed music video director Gabriel Moses, known for his work with top artists like Travis Scott and Pharrell Williams, accused Lisa of plagiarizing his work in her latest music video ROCKSTAR.
Specifically, he claims that Lisa’s video borrows from his direction in Travis Scott’s FE!N music video, featured on Scott’s album UTOPIA, which Moses directed.
The FE!N MV director alleged that Lisa’s team reached out to his editor to use the video as a reference for her ROCKSTAR music video, but he explicitly declined. Despite this, Moses claims that Lisa’s team proceeded to use his work without permission.
He has since called on Lisa’s team to issue a statement addressing the plagiarism allegations by the end of July, but so far, they have remained silent on the matter.
Jeon Somi
Jeon Somi, a soloist and former member of the girl group I.O.I, faced a plagiarism scandal last year surrounding her music video for the title track Fast Forward from her album GAME PLAN. As a result, she had to remove a portion of the video due to copyright infringement claims.
A plagiarism scandal erupted when a character in the Fast Forward music video was discovered to have been copied from Rumiko Takahashi’s renowned manga Urusei Yatsura.
In response, Jeon Somi’s team apologized for their mistake, removed a part of the video, and replaced it with a new one.
aespa
In 2020, aespa’s BLACK MAMBA music video faced accusations of plagiarism. The video’s similarities to (G)I-DLE’s LION and Oh My God, as well as K/DA’s POP/STARS, raised concerns. Additionally, it was claimed that the artwork was copied from German visual artist Timo Helgert without permission.
SM Entertainment stated that they had consulted with the involved parties, finding no objections to the video’s content.
LE SSERAFIM
LE SSERAFIM has faced multiple plagiarism accusations throughout their career. In an email revealed by ADOR to court during an injunction hearing, it was claimed that HYBE is privately negotiating compensation with overseas producers for the group’s plagiarized songs.
LE SSERAFIM was accused of copying several songs from their last mini album, EASY. Particularly, the title track EASY grabbed attention for its similarities to Velous’ Cliché in terms of vocal delivery, sound, and lyrics.
Many netizens found that Smart, another song from EASY, sounded too similar to Tyla’s hit Water.
Their previous hits ANTI-FRAGILE and UNFORGIVEN faced claims of copying works of Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalía’s Linda and Chicken Teriyaki.
NewJeans
NewJeans is known for their unique concept and styling, still, they did not escape the plagiarism claims. After the HYBE-ADOR conflict escalated, the group was accused of borrowing their concept from the 90s Mexican girl group, Jeans, now known as JNS.
JNS responded rather positively, expressed their joy at the return of the 90s concept, and wished for a collab instead.
In addition, NewJeans released their first single, How Sweet, on May 24. The music video of one of the tracks, Bubble Gum, was released in April, and was embroiled in a plagiarism controversy. It was accused of sounding similar to English band Shakatak’s Easier Said Than Done.
Last month, ADOR directly addressed plagiarism accusations in an official statement in response to the copyright claim filed by Shakatak.
ILLIT
It is no secret anymore that ILLIT was accused of copying the concept and styling of NewJeans. In fact, ADOR’s CEO Min Hee Jin revealed that this was the very reason for the conflict between HYBE and ADOR.
Because of this, the group faced a lot of scrutiny and hate, and their successful debut was marred by these claims. ILLIT became the fastest K-pop group to debut on Billboard HOT 100 with Magnetic and it is the most streamed song of the first half of 2024.
In response to the allegations raised by Min Hee Jin, BELIFT LAB filed a lawsuit and released a video to refute claims.
TWS
The latest one to join the list is another new K-pop group by HYBE, TWS. TWS, who made their debut on January 22, embroiled in plagiarism controversy with their first comeback album, SUMMER BEAT!
The group was criticized after they released a performance video of one of the tracks from the album, Double Take, in July. Fans were quick to notice that it sounded way too similar to GD&TOP’s 2010 hit Knock Out in terms of background music, vocal delivery, and MV atmosphere.
