IU is embroiled in another plagiarism controversy.
On May 10th, Maeil Business reported that IU had been reported by a civilian for allegedly plagiarizing six songs, including “The Red Shoes,” to the Seoul Gangnam Police Station under suspicion of violating copyright law.
According to the report, A claimed that IU had copied the music of foreign and domestic artists for a total of six songs, including “The Red Shoes,” “Good Day,” “BBI-BBI,” “Pitiful,” “Boo,” and “Celebrity.”
This is not the first time IU has been embroiled in a plagiarism controversy. She has denied it several times in the past.
In particular, “The Red Shoes” was surrounded by plagiarism suspicions as soon as it was released. On December 20, 2013, IU’s fifth full-length album, “Modern Times,” was released, and the title track “The Red Shoes” was criticized for being similar to Nekta’s “Here’s Us.”
At the time, IU’s former agency, Loen Entertainment, denied the allegation, saying, “‘Here’s Us’ and the B-part of ‘The Red Shoes’ may sound similar in melody, but the chord progression is completely different. ‘Here’s Us’ is a dominant scale chord progression with a B-flat major root chord.“
Famous composers Bang Si Hyuk and Kim Hyung Seok also supported IU. Bang Si Hyuk said on his SNS, “To those who say IU’s ‘The Red Shoes’ is plagiarism, there are genres and clichés in music. If ‘The Red Shoes’ is plagiarism, almost all swing jazz songs should be considered plagiarized.”
Kim Hyung Seok also explained, “Rhythm structures are generally similar. Like the rhythm arrangements of fast electronic dance songs. It is unreasonable to see it as plagiarism.“
Despite the explanation from the agency and famous musicians, some are still suspicious. When news broke that IU had been reported for plagiarism, some netizens showed reactions such as “They are too similar,” “How many songs did she plagiarize?,” and “I hope the truth will be revealed.“
Meanwhile, IU’s agency EDAM Entertainment has yet to make any statement.
Source: Nate.
