IU’s Plagiarism Allegation Takes Bizarre Turn

IU‘s agency, EDAM Entertainment, refuted claims made by NEKTA‘s publishing company, Nordend Entertainment Publishing.

IU | Spotify NEKTA | Spotify

German band NEKTA‘s publishing company had previously alleged that  EDAM Entertainment had never contacted them over IU’s “The Red Shoes.” The song had long been alleged to have plagiarized NEKTA’s “Here Is Us.”

With great astonishment, we have taken note of various articles in Korean media in which it is claimed that those responsible for the production had contacted us or the artist group NEKTA at the time and clarified the issue regarding copyright infringement.

This does not correspond to the truth! To date, neither the artist IU nor any official representative of LOEN Entertainment or EDAM Entertainment has contacted us or responded to our multiple attempts to contact them.

— Nordend Entertainment Publishing

The publishing company further stated that it was them who had reached out to IU’s agency, contradicting EDAM Entertainment’s earlier claims that they had contacted NEKTA’s agencies but had not heard back.

We, Nordend Entertainment Publishing, have already tried to get in touch in 2013 to discuss the matter together, however all our email and contacts remained unanswered. The inquiries regarding this matter are archived in our records.

Following the now newly published articles and statements by Mr. Cho Young-Cheol, we attempted to contact EDAM Entertainment on 28 May 2023 using the email addresses published on the website. This email has also gone unanswered so far.

— Nordend Entertainment Publishing

To this, EDAM Entertainment claimed that they had received the aforementioned mail by Nordend Entertainment Publishing and had replied back. The label the published an email they had sent to Nordend in 2013.

Email sent by EDAM Entertainment | chosun ilbo

 

We received Nordend Entertainment’s message and replied to it. We will publish the 2013 email sent by lawyers.

— EDAM Entertainment

When allegations were first made, IU’s label denied the plagiarism accusations stating, “The chorus of the song, which is the most important part of the song, and the first verse and bridge are nothing alike. Taking into melody composition and instrumentation, they are completely different songs. Here Is Us and The Red Shoes have a similar melody in the latter part of the song, but the chord ensembles are completely different.”

Stay tuned for updates.