Fifty Crisis, K-pop Mudfish? Suspicion of tampering changing copyright holders rises

The Fifty Fifty incident turned into a mud fight. While the members filed a lawsuit against their agency Attract for an exclusive contract dispute, suspicions arose that Ahn Seong-il, CEO of The Giverse, deceived Jeon Hong-joon, CEO of Attract. Beyond the problems surrounding simple Fifty Fifty, some point out that it is an act that hindered the K-pop industry.

On the 6th, a media outlet released a transcript of a phone call in April between Hongjoon Jeon, CEO of Attract, and Seongil Ahn, CEO of Dugiverse, regarding the Fifty Fifty scandal.

In the transcript, CEO Jeon Hong-joon asked CEO Ahn Seong-il why the copyright holder was Ahn Seong-il. In response, CEO Ahn Seong-il replied, "If all of that goes up, the registration will be moved back to the publisher's name."

When CEO Jeon Hong-joon asked, "It's been two months now, hasn't it been uploaded yet?" CEO Ahn Seong-il said, "That takes three months."

Fifty Fifty's 'Cupid' is a song created by students at the Swedish Music School. Previously, it was reported that CEO Jeon Hong-joon acquired the right to write the song "Cupid" by Petit Fifty in exchange for 9,000 dollars (approximately 12 million won). However, according to the industry, neighboring copyright is a right possessed by record producers, and it does not make sense that CEO Jeon Hong-joon paid 9,000 dollars to acquire it.

In this regard, The Givers side is being criticized for cheating by saying, "We do not plan to disclose additional positions."

Fifty Fifty and Attract are currently fighting in court. The reason is that the relationship of trust was broken due to the financial and systemic problems of the agency and the health problems of the members. In the conflict between the two sides, a service company called 'The Giverse' came out. The Givers is the company responsible for the overall production of Fifty Fifty's albums.

The Giverse CEO Ahn Seong-il tried to transfer 55 Fifty members to Warner Music Korea without Attract's knowledge. Attract requested an investigation into the tampering allegations, but The Giver's takes the position of 'unfounded'.

The case is also drawing attention from the industry. Regarding this situation on the 5th, the Korea Entertainment Producers Association said, “We are closely monitoring the situation that Attract is experiencing. It has caused irreversible consequences.”

The members are demanding contract termination, and Attract is demanding an amicable agreement. CEO Jeon Hong-joon is known to have nurtured Fifty Fifty by disposing of his car and his favorite luxury watch. However, the members were shocked by the fact that they registered trademark rights individually behind the back of the former CEO. There were even suspicions that the members were leading this controversy along with The Givers.

The girl group 'Fifty Fifty' has been highly anticipated and called 'the miracle of a small agency'. Currently, along with the stigma of being a K-pop ugly duckling, it is pointed out that it is muddying the waters of the industry as a whole.

Reporter Yoon Jun-ho, Ten Asia delo410@tenasia.co.kr