Ynot? to take legal action against CNBLUE song

The plagiarism dispute between Korean indie groups Ynot? and CNBLUE regarding the latter's hit single "Alone" is heating up into a legal battle, according to local media reports.

Underground rock band Ynot? will reportedly file a lawsuit this week against the songwriters of "Alone", the debut single of indie-band-turned-idol-group CNBLUE, accusing them of plagiarizing their tune "Bluebird" from the 2008 mini-album "GreenApple".

"We will file a civil lawsuit against the songwriters of 'Alone' within the week," lawyer Kim Hyun-sung, who is handling the case for Ynot?, was quoted as saying.

Kim further explained that Ynot? is taking legal action because "they judge that composers of 'Alone' have violated copyright laws" and that they are "in the final stages of collecting and organizing relevant data" for the case.

The lawsuit will reportedly be asking the counterparty, Korean songwriters Kim Do-hoon and Lee Sang-ho, to pay up to KRW 50 million won in losses and damages.

"Alone" has stirred controversy since its release in January and both parties had been stating their positions through various media reports.

Ju Mong, lead singer and songwriter of Ynot?, was quoted as saying, "As a musician who has been making music for a long time, it is unfortunate that this plagiarism controversy should arise."

Songwriter Kim Do-hoon, who has penned numerous K-pop hits over the years, claimed that "Alone" did not plagiarize "Bluebird" and even went into detail about the issue; last February, he denied the accusations explaining that "only one bar in 'Alone' is similar but the cord progression is different, the intro part is not at all similar and main chorus melody 'Alone, alone' is completely different."

Ynot? is regarded one of the most talented underground bands in Korea who released thier first record "This is the Freedom to the Power!" in 2002. The quartet have since put out several single albums, collaboration albums and most recently their second full-length album titled "Agirangyi Rhythm".

CNBLUE is a four-member indie rock band who first debuted in Japan with the mini-album "Now or Never". They released their Korean debut album "Bluetory" in January 2010, whose title track "Alone" went on to conquer several music charts in the country.

Reporter : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr