South Korean singer IU's agency, Edam Entertainment, has officially responded to recent plagiarism allegations against the singer. Denying the accusations, the agency added that the accuser’s intention was to tarnish the artist’s image.
The agency has also warned that legal action will be taken against the reckless accusation.
On May 10, six of IU’s songs were reported to the Seoul Gangnam Police Station for alleged plagiarism.
The six songs reported to the police were Good Day, Red Shoes, Bbibbi, Pitiful, Boo, and Celebrity. The accuser claimed that the songs were a result of plagiarism from local and overseas artists' past releases.
Out of the six tracks, IU, whose Hangeul name is Lee Ji-eun, was involved in writing lyrics for the songs Celebrity and Bbibbi.
On May 12, EDAM Entertainment announced: "After the report on copyright violations related to the alleged plagiarism on May 10, we appointed a law firm specialising in copyright, to confirm the contents of the accusation.
“Summarising what has been confirmed through investigation agencies and media reports so far, the accuser is not raising suspicions of plagiarism against the composers, but only against IU. It can be seen that the unreasonable third party, unreasonably accused singer IU, was only to damage the artist's image.
“Even in a situation where some composers say it is not plagiarism, it can be seen that the third party, who has nothing to do with copyright, forcibly accused IU, a singer, only to damage the image of the artist. We believe that the investigative agency will make a quick and wise decision on the obviously wrong accusation."
As news of the accusation spread rapidly online, the songwriters of IU's iconic hits, The Red Shoes, Good Day, and Bbibbi also responded with official statements.
Lee Min Soo who composed IU's Good Day and The Red Shoes, and composer Lee Jong Hoon who composed BbiBbi, took to social media to refute the plagiarism allegations.
Producer Choi Gap Won, who co-composed and wrote the lyrics for IU's Pitiful, also said in an interview that it was not plagiarism.
IU’s fans took to Twitter to support her with words of encouragement, saying that they trust her.
Twitter user @kina_yuu posted: “… All song that listed as plagiarism was produced and written by different people, but they focus the attack on IU only. Haters would use even the nonexistent issue just to break others for no reason.”
IU’s fan @gorgeouslexy tweeted: “@edam_ent - wake up! She is the biggest soloist in South Korea, and she needs to be protected at all cost.”
Tweep @KassieCrist posted: “Glad they finally responded and I hope they really do take legal action against the person making the false claims and accusations.”
And, @DesperateE4t wrote: “We stand by you through this and whatever may come. Your music saved me.”
Meanwhile, Edam Entertainment also issued a warning that it will take strong action against the reckless accuser.
“[We] will hold the accusers who made indiscriminate accusations accountable. We are responding by communicating closely with the composers from the beginning of the incident, and we would like to say once again that we will strongly respond to indiscriminate accusations. Edam Entertainment and its artists will continue to do their best to repay you with good music as much as the fans support and trust us.”
