Girls’ Generation’s comeback is marred with controversy after their MV for Forever 1 is accused of plagiarizing an emblem at the Tokyo Disney Sea Theme Park in Japan.
Director Shin Hee-Won admitted to the accusations of plagiarism and apologized after Japanese fans showed evidence of the scene of the girl group’s celebration resembling the one at Tokyo Disney Sea.
The director apologized for the trouble the plagiarizing of set design caused the legendary girl group and SM Entertainment. He explained that when researching ideas online for the MV’s set design, he encountered the Tokyo Disney Sea’s emblem for their 15th anniversary and thought it would be suitable. They did not look up the original source when they used it as inspiration for the set design.
Director Shin was involved in the planning, directing process, and even the smallest props. He is ashamed of borrowing the design without permission. He gives his sincerest apologies for using the design without thorough research or confirmation.
Now, they promise to ensure thorough research and checking in multiple ways to prevent this incident from happening again.
The issue caused conflict as Japanese fans were the ones who pointed out the resemblance. Despite the director’s apology, they directed their blame on SM Entertainment. Two other incidents of SM Entertainment’s plagiarism that people brought up involved the set for Aespa’s Black Mamba, wherein they copied artist Bryan Huynh’s work for the teaser photos. Also, NCT Dream’s track “Countdown (3, 2, 1) and TXT’s Blue Orangeade’s uncanny resemblance. The label belatedly credited HYBE producers Slow Rabbit and Supreme Boi, raising speculations that their addition was due to plagiarism and copyright.
Source: Yahoo News, Koreaboo, AllKpop
