The key to the 'IU incident' is the composer's 'suspicion of plagiarism'

Singer IU's 'plagiarism suspicion' arose again. A member of the public accused IU of plagiarism. Suspicion is raised regarding a total of 6 songs. Various opinions are pouring in regarding the issue of plagiarism suspicions. However, some are pointing out that IU should provide an accurate explanation of the musical aspect.

When it comes to plagiarism, what matters is who created it with intent. This means that the composer who participated in the work of the song should also be the subject of a complaint. Mr. A who reported IU for public interest. No issues were raised against the composer. In fact, this is the reason why criticism is being made that it is merely 'making a dent in IU'.

Nevertheless, the 'IU incident' is not calming down at all. Rather than providing an accurate explanation for the plagiarism itself, the agency only showed a strong stance that it would take legal action against various false allegations surrounding this incident.

◆ Communication problems with the original author regarding the suspicion of plagiarism in ‘Pink Shoes’

Among them, the one that attracts the most attention is IU's 'Pink Shoes'. The song highlighted for its similarity to this song is ‘Here’s Us’ by the German band Nectar.

Nectar directly conveyed its position on this situation through an interview with this paper. Nectar said, “From our perspective, it was risky to engage in a legal dispute with a foreign company,” and added, “We were unable to pursue a ‘plagiarism lawsuit’ due to practical issues such as the cost of hiring an international lawyer.”

On the other hand, the response from the agency Edam Entertainment was different. Their position is that they have not received any request for explanation from Nectar. Of course, 10 years later, it is difficult to give an accurate explanation of the situation at the time. What is important is whether there was ‘coordination or discussion between the original author and IU’.

◆ Expert “It’s not plagiarism” VS Some of the public “It sounds similar”

Regarding the suspicion of Pink Shoes plagiarism, many domestic experts unanimously said, “No.” At the time, the agency Edam Entertainment said, "Some of the melodies of 'Here's Us' and the second verse (B part) of 'Pink Shoes' may sound similar in melody, but the chord progressions of the two songs are completely different." 'Pink Shoes' is a B-flat minor scale chord progression with B-flat minor-bm7-cm7-cm6-f7sus4-f7, and 'Here's Us' is a dominant scale chord progression with the B-flat major one chord progression." refuted.

Hive Chairman Bang Si-hyuk also said, "Those who say IU's 'Pink Shoes' is a plagiarism... There are concepts of genre and cliche in music. If 'Pink Shoes' is a plagiarism, then almost all of the swing jazz songs should be said to be plagiarisms." He explained.

Music critic Bae Soon-tak said, "If it's plagiarism, then all of John Mayer's blues songs are plagiarized. It's a bit similar to a sweet jazz-style rhythm, but there are a lot of songs like that in this area. I guess Brian Setzer is also plagiarizing that?" and added, "Even if you just listen to it, the chord progression is really different."

Despite the experts' explanations, public opinion is divided. “Pink Shoes and Here’s Us sound completely different” and “If you look at it this way, all songs will be embroiled in plagiarism controversy,” he said, agreeing with the opinions of experts. On the other hand, there are opinions that disagree, saying, "I thought it was the same as soon as I heard it," and "Some parts of the melody don't feel different. It could raise suspicions of plagiarism."

Plagiarism may be difficult to determine legally, but the public's interpretation should not be ignored. This is because the public is consumers. If not, there is a need to persuade the public through friendly explanations. This can be seen in veteran composer Kim Hyeong-seok’s ‘beliefs about plagiarism.’ In a past broadcast, he said, "'How can similar music not come out when there are 12 notes? How can there be so many works of art when there are 12 paints? What can we do with so many literary works when there are only a few types of type? Things like that." “It’s all an excuse,” he said. “Even if the public doesn’t know the technical terminology, they may consider (the original song and the plagiarized song) to be emotionally similar.”

◆ Is IU responsible? Victim of controversy?

Mr. A, a member of the public, reported IU. 'Violation of copyright law' must be filed by the original copyright holder who suffered damage. However, in this case, a third party came forward. The law firm that represented Mr. A is the proviso to Article 140 of the Copyright Act and Article 1 (In case of a person who infringes copyright property rights for profit or habitually by copying, performing, public transmission, display, distribution, rental, or creating secondary works). This is not the case).

Among the six songs in question, IU directly participated in the making of ‘Bippi’ and ‘Celebrity.’ However, this is not the case for the remaining four songs. All I did was request a song and make a selection. IU, who was the subject of the accusation, took all responsibility.

It is too early to make a hasty conclusion about the ‘suspicion of plagiarism’. The suspicions will be resolved after the investigation. If a problem is discovered, not only IU but also the composers are responsible.

The important point is that, regardless of the controversy, IU has suffered 'mental pain' from some groups. Malicious posts about IU continued for several years through YouTube and communities. Some people are expressing sympathy for this incident, saying, "It's nothing more than a witch hunt," and "This is the second Tajinyonya."

Reporter Junho Yoon, Ten Asia delo410@tenasia.co.kr