YG chief, G-Dragon probed over alleged copyright infringement
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A composer claimed that YG Entertainment had released the song he made as part of G-Dragon’s live solo concert album Shine A Light in 2010 without authorisation.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
SEOUL – G-Dragon of BigBang and Mr Yang Hyun-suk, head of K-pop powerhouse YG Entertainment, are being probed over alleged violation of a copyright law, officials said on Aug 13.
“The police have launched an investigation into the two after receiving a complaint in November from a composer who claimed that the singer and Yang had illegally copied the composer’s song,” an official at Seoul’s Mapo Police Station told The Korea Herald.
The police have twice raided YG Entertainment’s headquarters in Seoul’s Mapo-gu and have questioned those involved in the case, the official added. The official declined to comment further on the issue, saying that the case is ongoing.
The composer claimed that YG Entertainment had illegally copied G-Dragon, the song he made, and later produced and released it as part of G-Dragon’s live solo concert album Shine A Light in 2010 without authorisation, according to local reports.
Producing and distributing albums without the permission of the person who made the music violates Article 136 of the Copyright Act.
The song was registered with the Korea Music Copyright Association in 2001, with the individual listed as the composer and arranger.
A senior official at YG Entertainment told The Korea Herald that the case does not violate the copyright law.
“The artiste (G-Dragon) included two different songs during his solo concert in 2009 that happened to have the same title on the set list, so this is not a case of copyright infringement,” the official explained.
An official at Galaxy Corporation, G-Dragon’s agency, echoed the remarks, declining to comment further on the issue. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
