Supreme Court Rules "Baby Shark" Is Not Plagiarism, Korean Producer Wins Final Victory

Appraisal of Original Song by US Composer Claiming Plagiarism
"Cannot Be Considered a Separate Work from the Folk Song"

[Source=Pinkfong]

The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Korean production company Pinkfong in a copyright lawsuit over the children's song "Baby Shark"-famous for its catchy "doo doo doo doo doo doo" lyrics-brought by an American composer against Pinkfong.

The First Division of the Supreme Court (Presiding Justice Noh Taeak) on August 14 finalized the appellate court's decision to dismiss the appeal filed by American children's song composer Johnny Only (real name Jonathan Robert Wright) against The Pinkfong Company (formerly SmartStudy) in the damages lawsuit.

In 2019, Johnny Only claimed that "Baby Shark" plagiarized his own 2011 arrangement of a North American traditional folk song, which he had released as a derivative work titled "Baby Shark." The Pinkfong Company countered that its version was an independent arrangement of a traditional folk song.

The court of first instance, referencing the findings of the Korea Copyright Commission and other evidence, ruled against the plaintiff in July 2021, stating that the evidence presented was insufficient to support his claims. The appellate court reached the same conclusion in 2023.

The Supreme Court stated, "For a derivative work to be protected, it must involve modifications or additions to the original work sufficient to create a new work by social standards." The court further explained, "According to the expert opinion commissioned by the court of first instance, the plaintiff's song did not constitute a substantial enough transformation from the traditional folk song to be considered a separate work, and therefore cannot be protected as a derivative work." The appeal was thus dismissed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.