SM Entertainment Under Fire For Allegedly Plagiarizing BTS V’s “Layover” Album With SHINee Taemin’s Upcoming Album Design

Earlier in the year, BTS‘s V released his debut album Layover, and it instantly caught the attention of fans because of its unique and fresh concept.

BTS’s V in his layover images | BIGHIT MUSIC | BIGHIT MUSIC | BIGHIT MUSIC | BIGHIT MUSIC

In particular, netizens loved the physical album, which seemingly represented V in different ways and was very unique in its design.

Your browser does not support video.The album design | @bts_bighit/Twitter Your browser does not support video.| @bts_bighit/Twitter 

Yet, SM Entertainment has come under fire for allegedly plagiarizing the concept of Layover with the release of SHINee Taemin‘s upcoming album.

SHINee’s Taemin | @xoalsox/Instagram

Recently, SM Entertainment has been teasing the release of Taemin’s new album, Guilty.

| @SHINee/Twitter

On October 22, the SHINee Twitter page shared a photo of what netizens could expect from Taemin’s album, including some of the tracks, concept photos, and the outer box.

When the tweet was shared…

TAEMIN 태민 The 4th Mini Album 〖Guilty〗
Packshot – Archive Box Ver.

➫ 2023.10.30 6PM KST#TAEMIN #태민#SHINee #샤이니#Guilty #TAEMIN_Guilty pic.twitter.com/3oo2Ukjket

— SHINee (@SHINee) October 22, 2023

ARMYs couldn’t hide their reactions as they believed SM Entertainment had plagiarized V’s Layover album. In particular, they noted the similarities in the outer box, the style of the concept photos, and the fact that one of the song’s was also called “Blue.”

we're all obsessed with layover's concept, can't blame him https://t.co/dmKUNTKcRD pic.twitter.com/wkbmz6iBaK

— layover official manager (@kthvord) October 22, 2023

Ohhh taehyung you will always be the blue print , idols of idols and thee father of kpop. pic.twitter.com/IyIv41pIxq https://t.co/rv3gTx0MVP

— ashu⁷ꪜ⋆glden (@menacebangtan) October 23, 2023

nobody is better than the original https://t.co/Q6nUjeYJsa pic.twitter.com/9MuwTQRCTV

— ᴄᴀᴛᴀ⁷ (@apobangp07) October 22, 2023

Is this even legal atp? Literally copy paste and the fact track 6 is actually called "blue" pic.twitter.com/wcTUeH0jhM https://t.co/dcXu6vt2vi

— ariie⁷ (@gguksgenre) October 23, 2023

It is possible that a lot of the song’s creation and planning for the album was done before V’s album was released, but many ARMYs are sharing their anger at just how similar the styles of both albums are.