Lee Hyori Admits Plagiarism Allegation
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Singer Lee Hyori (31) has admitted that several songs in her fourth album had been plagiarized.
Her agency Mnet Media will sue the composer for fraud, who gave copied songs to Lee Hyori after the original copyright holder had been confirmed. Lee Hyori posted a statement in her fan café on June 20, stating, "Among songs in the fourth album, a few of them which were given by Bahnus Vacuum -- a group of new composers -- had caused problems. At first, I trusted their saying that the demo songs had been leaked, and also I did not suspect their opinion at all because I received those songs through my agency. But, after thorough investigation, it was found that the songs had not been composed by them". Seven songs in Lee Hyori's fourth album have continuously brought controversy about plagiarism on the Internet, but her agency Mnet Media had officially announced that the demo songs were accidentally leaked as Bahnus strongly insisted.
Lee Hyori continued to state, "Since every song has been composed in foreign countries, it took a long time to find the original composer. Two of them were found to be composed by other songwriters and we are discussing this issue with the original composer. I will take all responsibility, as I have given damage to those original composers against my will". She expressed an apology to those original songwriters. Lee Hyori received seven songs such as "Bring It Back","Feel the Same"."How Did We Get","I'm Back","Memory","Swing", and "Highlight" from Bahnus.
Last April, a netizen raised the suspicion that Lee Hyori's songs "Bring It Back","Feel the Same","How Did We Get","I'm Back", and "Memory" were very similar to Canadian Female group Cookie Couture's song "Boy, Bring It Back", Canadian singer Melanie Durrant's song "Feel the Same", American singer Jason Derulo's song "How Did We", Canadian singer Lil Precious's song "So Insane", and British group Second Person's song "The Alphabet Song", respectively.
A spokesperson for Mnet Media said, "Since last April, we sent email to every artist who was mentioned on the web to find the original composers and to confirm whether the allegation was true, and we have received two replies from the original copyright holders". The agency of Cookie Couture responded that the song "Boy, Bright It Back" had been composed in 2007, recorded in a studio in 2008, and registered by a Canadian copyright association in 2008. The agency also sent an inquiry to the Canadian copyright association for confirmation. Also, the agency of Second Person said in the response that they composed the song "The Alphabet Song" in 2005 and released the song in 2008, and they said that they want to discuss this matter through both sides' lawyers. The person at Mnet Media explained, "Even though they insist that they are the original copyright holders, we have to confirm those claims clearly".
The spokesperson continued by saying, "When the controversy about the plagiarism was first issued last April, Bahnus Vacuum protested their innocence and submitted various documents as evidence such as studio recording records in England, but those were found to be fabricated documents. After we finish confirming the original copyright holders, we will accuse Bahnus of fraud. We have already taken the passports and other identification from Bahnus to prevent them from escaping".
A news reporter at Yonhap news has tried to contact Bahnus many times to listen to their opinions, but they never received a reply.
Lee Hyori had had to stop her activities when she had been caught in a plagiarism controversy for her second album, and she was entangled in a plagiarism controversy again and has yet to finish her activities for her fourth album. People in the music industry said that what happened to Lee Hyori occurs occasionally, so singers have to pay particular attention.
A representative of a music record company said, "When the group SS501 was preparing a new album, they received a song that was composed by a foreign songwriter through a dealer, but the song was not actually an original song. From the beginning, the dealer -- who did not possess the copyright -- just wanted to be paid for the song. So, in this situation, it requires special attention when singers receive songs from unknown composers, whoever they are, from home and abroad".
Her agency Mnet Media will sue the composer for fraud, who gave copied songs to Lee Hyori after the original copyright holder had been confirmed. Lee Hyori posted a statement in her fan café on June 20, stating, "Among songs in the fourth album, a few of them which were given by Bahnus Vacuum -- a group of new composers -- had caused problems. At first, I trusted their saying that the demo songs had been leaked, and also I did not suspect their opinion at all because I received those songs through my agency. But, after thorough investigation, it was found that the songs had not been composed by them". Seven songs in Lee Hyori's fourth album have continuously brought controversy about plagiarism on the Internet, but her agency Mnet Media had officially announced that the demo songs were accidentally leaked as Bahnus strongly insisted.
Lee Hyori continued to state, "Since every song has been composed in foreign countries, it took a long time to find the original composer. Two of them were found to be composed by other songwriters and we are discussing this issue with the original composer. I will take all responsibility, as I have given damage to those original composers against my will". She expressed an apology to those original songwriters. Lee Hyori received seven songs such as "Bring It Back","Feel the Same"."How Did We Get","I'm Back","Memory","Swing", and "Highlight" from Bahnus.
Last April, a netizen raised the suspicion that Lee Hyori's songs "Bring It Back","Feel the Same","How Did We Get","I'm Back", and "Memory" were very similar to Canadian Female group Cookie Couture's song "Boy, Bring It Back", Canadian singer Melanie Durrant's song "Feel the Same", American singer Jason Derulo's song "How Did We", Canadian singer Lil Precious's song "So Insane", and British group Second Person's song "The Alphabet Song", respectively.
A spokesperson for Mnet Media said, "Since last April, we sent email to every artist who was mentioned on the web to find the original composers and to confirm whether the allegation was true, and we have received two replies from the original copyright holders". The agency of Cookie Couture responded that the song "Boy, Bright It Back" had been composed in 2007, recorded in a studio in 2008, and registered by a Canadian copyright association in 2008. The agency also sent an inquiry to the Canadian copyright association for confirmation. Also, the agency of Second Person said in the response that they composed the song "The Alphabet Song" in 2005 and released the song in 2008, and they said that they want to discuss this matter through both sides' lawyers. The person at Mnet Media explained, "Even though they insist that they are the original copyright holders, we have to confirm those claims clearly".
The spokesperson continued by saying, "When the controversy about the plagiarism was first issued last April, Bahnus Vacuum protested their innocence and submitted various documents as evidence such as studio recording records in England, but those were found to be fabricated documents. After we finish confirming the original copyright holders, we will accuse Bahnus of fraud. We have already taken the passports and other identification from Bahnus to prevent them from escaping".
A news reporter at Yonhap news has tried to contact Bahnus many times to listen to their opinions, but they never received a reply.
Lee Hyori had had to stop her activities when she had been caught in a plagiarism controversy for her second album, and she was entangled in a plagiarism controversy again and has yet to finish her activities for her fourth album. People in the music industry said that what happened to Lee Hyori occurs occasionally, so singers have to pay particular attention.
A representative of a music record company said, "When the group SS501 was preparing a new album, they received a song that was composed by a foreign songwriter through a dealer, but the song was not actually an original song. From the beginning, the dealer -- who did not possess the copyright -- just wanted to be paid for the song. So, in this situation, it requires special attention when singers receive songs from unknown composers, whoever they are, from home and abroad".
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