ILLIT makes NewJeans' 'mother' wear 'silver bracelet', Belift Lab enthusiastically supports?

Last April, former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin made accusations of "ILLIT copying NewJeans", claiming that the concept of Belift Lab's (a subsidiary of HYBE Group) new girl group ILLIT was similar to NewJeans - the group she created.

In response, Belift Lab vehemently denied the allegations and filed a counter-suit against Min Hee Jin on grounds of interference with business operations and defamation, as well as an additional civil lawsuit.

However, last month, the plagiarism controversy surrounding NewJeans and ILLIT flared up again. On October 11, during the hearing at the Seoul Central District Court's 50th Civil Court regarding the injunction lawsuit that Min Hee Jin filed against HYBE regarding voting rights, Min Hee Jin's side submitted evidence alleging that ILLIT's concept copied NewJeans' project plan.

Recently, in an interview with Osen, Belift Lab CEO Kim Tae Ho made a statement that the project plans of the two artists, ILLIT and NewJeans, cannot overlap in terms of timeline, making plagiarism impossible.

In addition, Kim Tae Ho also updated on the legal actions related to the plagiarism controversy with Min Hee Jin: "Director Min has repeatedly delayed his response regarding the civil and criminal cases, using various tactics to postpone the lawsuits. After waiting, we requested a court date last Tuesday.

Belift Lab filed a lawsuit against Director Min in June. Although Director Min was aware of the lawsuit, she avoided receiving the court documents three times, only finally accepting them about three months after the lawsuit was filed. Even then, she still did not submit any documents or responses, so last week, to avoid further delays, we requested a 'default judgment' from the court. Director Min's side then promptly filed a brief response stating that they were 'reviewing the lawsuit and will respond within six weeks,'" Belift Lab's CEO explained.

Additionally, another lawsuit was filed this week. Kim Tae Ho revealed that ILLIT's creative director filed a lawsuit against Min Hee Jin and other former ADOR CEOs over plagiarism allegations.

Previously, Korean media reports said that Min Hee Jin's side provided documents to the court, including evidence that ILLIT was a copycat product of NewJeans. Specifically, a HYBE employee admitted that ILLIT's creative director - Serian Heu had requested documents about NewJeans. From here, ILLIT's plan was identical to the plan to create NewJeans.

After this evidence was released, netizens were once again fed up with Belift Lab's blatant plagiarism. The real victims who suffered the wave of hatred, attacking comments and boycotts were the artists. While all production and promotion plans were decided by the "upper echelons" of the company.

ILLIT is a girl group consisting of 5 members: Yunah, Minju, Moka, Wonhee and Iroha. The group operates under Belift Lab - a subsidiary of HYBE Group. As soon as they debuted, the group created a fever in the Kpop music industry with their new sweet and lovely style.

ILLIT and “Magnetic” achieved unprecedented success as the group became the first K-pop girl group to have a debut track enter the global Spotify chart after just one day of release, debuting at No. 160 and eventually entering the chart’s Top 40. Elsewhere, SUPER REAL ME sold over 380,000 physical albums worldwide in its first week of release, according to Korea’s Hanteo Charts.

BLACKPINK, ILLIT, NewJeans lead the "copycat" group, the shame of all Kpop? Trí Nhi15:17:47 14/10/2024During a recent audit session of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, Congressman Shin Dong Wook said that plagiarism is becoming a problem that is hindering the development of K-pop.