American singer song-writer Meghan Trainor came under suspicion of plagiarizing the Korean song “Happy Mode.”
The accusation of plagiarism surfaced in Korea earlier this month after a netizen posted a video on YouTube that shows similarities between K-pop group Koyote’s “Happy Mode” and Billboard-ranked track “All About That Bass” sung by Trainor.
(YouTube)
Some netizens pointed out that the beat of American song, released in July, is a bit faster than the Korean one, revealed in 2006. But the two songs’ melodies are clearly similar, they said.
Joo Young-hoon, the composer of the Korean song, first denied the possibility of Trainor’s alleged plagiarism. “It must be coincidence,” he wrote on Twitter on Aug. 1.
(Yonhap)
About three weeks later, however, Joo said in an Aug. 21 tweet that he got a call from the U.S. and was considering hiring a lawyer specialized in intellectual property.
On Aug. 26, news made headlines as Joo admitted that he was consulting with a lawyer over the plagiarism allegation.
“All About That Bass,” Trainor’s debut single, stands at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The music video has garnered more than 20 million views on YouTube as of Aug. 26.
By Ock Hyun-ju (
laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)
