Actress, singer-songwriter, and worldwide-known soloist IU has been delivering the goods in the K-pop music and K-drama industry since she started. She’s been releasing different genres of music since 2008, from pop to ballad, and people are just loving it. However, on May 10, an anonymous person reportedly filed charges of plagiarism against IU for six of her songs, here’s what EDAM Entertainment has to say and what happened.
IU’s love and career continuously bloom this 2023, and UEANAs (her fandom) have never been more thrilled. Just before New Year 2023 came, Dispatch dropped a New Year’s couple – IU and actor Lee Jong-Suk which both of their agencies confirmed. In the last week of April, IU and Park Seo-Joon attended the premiere of their movie Dream. And now, IU is currently filming for her newest Netflix K-drama with actor Park Bo-Gum.
IU faces charges of plagiarism for six of her songs
On May 8, Seoul’s Gangnam Police Station was said to have received a report filed against the K-pop singer and actress. The plagiarism allegations include IU‘s songs “Good Day,” “The Red Shoes,” “Pitiful,” “Boo,” “BBIBBI,” and “Celebrity.”
According to a report from allkpop, the report claimed that “All 6 of these songs closely resemble the original songs in melody, rhythm, and code progression, and in the case of songs like ‘The Red Shoes,’ the resemblance is clearly noticeable even in the ears of the general public. Especially, all 6 songs are suspected of plagiarizing the intro.”
The accuser also shared the accused’s (IU’s) refusal to respond to the plagiarism allegations. The singer allegedly reports and deletes all SNS about the accusations and copyright violations.
In the accuser’s case, it’s not about being a victim of creative plagiarism. Instead, they claim that third parties can charge a report based on suspicions of “habitual acts of plagiarism for profit.”
Is it true?: EDAM Entertainment responds to the allegations
In a public statement on the afternoon of May 10, EDAM Entertainment finally gave its word regarding the accusation, alongside the numerous malicious comments on SNS several months ago.
EDAM writes from a translated report of Koreaboo, “We are aware of the fact that there are posts on suspected plagiarism based on false facts and groundless rumors distributed in online communities, SNS, YouTube, etc.”
EDAM Entertainment adds that the authorities have not officially contacted them and they only knew about the plagiarism allegations through the articles. “We would like to inform you that the contents of the complaints mentioned in the press have not yet been confirmed, and we are in the process of trying to understand the contents,” they shared.
- EDAM’s statement does not confirm nor deny the accusations. As of now, we can’t weigh whether the allegations are true or not. While there’s no concrete statement about the issue, let’s hope to hear more from the entertainment for the updates soon.
Furthermore, they talked about other issues like false information, defamation, and slander. The agency could not ignore nor tolerate the misinformation spreading as it affected the artist’s well-being, the company’s staff, and everyone around her.
EDAM Entertainment also stated to take legal action against these comments and information circulating on SNS against the K-pop star. The agency also urged fans to contact them if they found any evidence regarding the malicious posts.
“We will take strong legal action without exceptions in the event of repeatedly posting malicious posts such as defamation, slander, or reproduction of false information,” EDAM states.
Previous plagiarism accusation
In 2013, IU’s track “The Red Shoes” also faced plagiarism accusations. The song was said to have plagiarized Nekta‘s song, “Here’s Us.” Nekta, back then, reportedly reached out to IU’s-then agency, Loen Entertainment, about the matter. Unfortunately, they have not heard anything before.
If you have any questions about K-pop, you can share them below. Until then, stay with us here at Spiel Times for more content.
