In a thread back before the site was wiped, a bunch of people disagreed with me when I said plagiarism is rife in Korean pop music.

I got most of these from other people so I can't really defend them all that well. Some of them might be legitimate samples.

Almoner - X-Men totally rips off Toxic by Brittany
Kiss Kiss - Mina is a complete bite of Kiss Kiss by Holly Valance
Funky Town - Kim Hyun Jung is a rip off of Lips Inc/Pseudo Echo
꿍작 - One, Two is a rip off of Will Smiths Switch
위험한 연출 - 체연 is a rip off of Kylie Minouge cant get you out of my head.
은지원's 올빼미 is ripped from Nelly's Where the Party At.
니나's Hit Him is a rip of Christina Ageluira's Dirrty.
Camp Lo used The Stylistics "Love is the Answer" for "Black Connection"

And just so you don't think I can't slag my friends, Cock Rasher's song "Not Your Business" copies the intro from Cock Sparrer's "Argy Bargy."

there is so much more than that I'm sure..
but I can totally relate..Kpop does tend to rip off of other stuff...words and tracks...tsk tsk

RACETRAITOR,

You might know, but was the No Brain track for track cover of Nevermind The Sex Pistols... cleared legally or not?

I have no idea, but I just bought a copy at Ssamzie Sound Festival last month. No Brain isn't quite in our circle anymore.

Though that's a tribute album and wears the unoriginality on its sleeve, and doesn't quite belong in this category.

Incidentally, I saw a tribute comp of Korean bands covering Metallica. I thought of buying a copy and sending it to Metallica, just so the Koreans can see what dicks Metallica truly are.

That would have been awesome...though not for the bands / label that released the "tribute" album.

Probably the main reason I didn't do it.

Actually, back in Canada I had some friends get sued by Metallica. But they were asking for it.

http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2003/01/1510.cfm

How good is the album anyways? Is th english bad? I saw it on Kwang's site and was interested.

It's listenable but not particularly high quality. They're covering songs already written, so I don't think there's much room for them to screw up on the English.

If you mean [Am I Metallica] CD.

7. Ride the Lightning - nOiZeGaRdEn
8. Fade to Black - Kalpa

These 2 tracks are very well done.

nOiZeGaRdEn is hard to describe, however their music got infleunces from very many genre, and gave audience very unusual experience. Long ago disbanded, anyway, released 2 official albums & featured in some V/A albums.

Kalpa... For just that 1 song, raw-black-style-very-well-remade-one. Their(In fact, his) album could be somewhat different, however.

1. Blackened - Crash
9. Seek and Destroy - No Way

These 2 tracks are well done.

Crash... They started as Sepultra/Slayer style, but with 2nd. album, changed as Fear Factory style. At now, they did score for [Kingdom under Fire : Heroes], the X-BOX game.

No Way... I can't remember exactly, however that cover version was kinda slow one.

For other tracks, depends on your taste.



Always curious about those SUCH A MANY TRIBUTE ALBUMS.

Anyway if we don't count about that legal stuff, No Brain's remake album was very cool. In fact, they were cool until then. After that, 2nd. & 3rd. albums were... Well... Let's forget about them.

Just the good thing is, their 3.5th. EP became good one, even if their music is NOT like their earlier one.

Maybe 4th. album will release soon. Hope they could make another good one, NOT as 2nd. & 3rd.

wow...sh*tty songs copied off of sh*tty songs...that's great.

why can't they make their OWN songs? People will find out, they're not stupid.

Plagiarism in Asian music not just Korean (when I say "Asian", I am not trying to racist. I am just stating from the type of music I am more expose to.) is very common. It is so common that a lot of fans take on the excuse of, "So what? Everybody is doing it." That is not an excuse. There are a lot of thing that one thinks everybody does that are not consider good. As much I hate to admit it, this trend will not be stopping any time soon. In fact, it looks like it is growing rapidly.

-ida

It's funny because before the board was reset, there was a discussion about some Korean band ripping off Coldplay, and when I remarked that ripping off foreign bands was common here, someone called bullplop. There doesn't seem to be a lot of disagreement now.

bullplop! koreans r the most original musicians in the world! everyone copies them! KP!

People plagiarize EVERYWHERE.
It's not just the Koreans. It's not just the Asians.
But many, many, wayyyy TOO MANY PEOPLE.

I'm not saying that two wrongs make a right
and yes, it's ridiculously sad that people so lacking
in originality and expression call themselves "artists,"
takes credit and make loads of money off of it too,
yes, those people don't deserve air time
but what I am saying here is this.

People do it. Not just in music. But anywhere there's art,
there's always copying. Sucks, yes, but I don't
think it's going to end any time soon-- not when we live in this
society, so deprived of inspiration, culture, and "art."
We don't see art. We don't know art. So how do we make art?
Very few of us do.

Ok. Going off tangent. Before I say something utterly
off topic and piss the topic poster off, off I go.

Bottom line: PLAGIARISM SUCKS.

don't mean to sound rude but...

Thanks for stating the obvious.

i never said copying doesn't exist at all. i said that that your posts were lacking substantiation. even with this thread, you are grasping at straws. 8 unknown songs (which may or may not be plagiarizing) out of thousands, doesn't amount to plagiarising of music that you characterized as prevalent, as though the incidence of this coming out from the korean industry would be any higher from other countries.

the coldplay song was merely similar. and i'll repeat it again: if you're a musical simpleton, you would listen to both songs and go "yeah, plagiarism!" the possibility is open but i don't think that the inferences made in that thread are neccesary or even cogent.

So it comes down to you being a bitch and calling names.

Thanks a lot, dick. Your opinion is noted and stored away for later use.

I agree with this, but not all kpop artist 'plagiarize'

what's really funny is when stars rip off a rip off. like the whole Mina using the same exact song as Holly Vallance (which isn't the same situation as a lot of the other examples)...which was actually a remake of the Turkish version by Tarkan.

really, though, copying (which isn't always plagiarism) makes me sad. like many viet pop groups and singers, i swear half of the "viet" songs i've heard that weren't by "old style" artists were actually remakes of chinese or korean songs.

then again, it also annoys me when people see plagiarism everywhere. you know what, yeah, a some songs sound pretty similar, but does that mean most asian songs are covers or plagiarism? not necessarily. sometimes it's obvious, sure, but otherwise it's more like a witch hunt than anything else. maybe some artists just happen to like similar chord progressions, who knows.

EDIT: did my post even make sense? haven't slept in two days.

There's a sharp difference between covering and plagiarising. If you know and acknowledge where you got it from, it's no as bad as ripping it off. It's also fine to repackage something, the way rappers often do, as long as it brings something new to it.

I just remembered a funny story, when I was at a music festival at Donggook U in the spring, there was a band playing mostly covers. Their next song was "I Fought the Law." and they announced "For our next song, we're going to cover the Clash." I shouted "No you're not!"

The only person who is being a bitch and calling names is you actually.

Btw, I agree with joogrlpekaun. "Witch hunters" are annoying.

Right here, dicktree.

Exactly.
Do we even know for sure if the 8 songs that RACETRAITOR listed were plagiarized or covers?
Have we seen the album booklets and read if the artists gave credits to the original sources or not?

the band mentioned about the coldplay thing i s known as vintage blue. this guy just used the piano thing, but the coldplay song sucked to begin with, vintage blue made it better and more listenable haha

my cousin said something about Jangwoohyuk's-sun that never rises (or w/e) and hwo it sounds close to one of Black eyed peas' songs

kim hyun jung- funky town is definitely a remake of the older version..i'm pretty sure they would'nt want to state the obvious by copying from a classic disco song


kangta- persona...sounds like babyface-the lonliness
lee jae won- no pain, no gain..sounds like a 112 song
jang woo hyuk- one of his songs sounds like BEP- let's get retarded
wheesung- one song from 3rd album sounds like P.Diddy- I need a girl pt. 2

there's alot of them

If you are stating the "Asian" part on behalf of my post then I would like to clarify myself. In my post, yes...I did mention Asian and plagerism. Excuse? If you read my post carefully, I did said that the reason I used it as an example was because I am more expose to it. I don't want to be judgemental of the things I am not familar too. If I rarely listen to American music, do I have the right to jump to conclusion and say they are plagarizing, not really.

If you didn't mean anything about me in that statement, then I am sorry for interrupting your post. Hopefully, my apology will be accepted.

Yes, I do agree with what several of you have said. There is a difference between 'ripping off' and 'remaking' it. If they are remaking and give credits where credits are due, then I, persoanally, don't see anything wrong with it. No, I exclude that. It really matters to me whether they did the song justice or not...if they turn it to crap...then that's just pitiful. Other than that, 'copying' and 'plagerizing' without the original singers/songwriter/producers/label's content and no credits are just plain wrong.

-ida

Let's also differentiate between plagiarising and being unoriginal. Most American pop or rock acts are unoriginal, but I can't really think of any severe cases of plagiarism. I'd say Korean music has more originality, but also this nasty tendency toward plagiarising.

ugh. people plagiarize ALL the time. -_______-;; and i agree with whitemorningstar-- it's not just the KOREANS or the ASIANS. ><; sometimes i feel like many people are acting as if american music is the most original thing.. that's just i feel when i get on soompi. because it's always "the krn artist so-and-so copied off the american artist so-and-so", not the other way around TToTT but no matter who copys off who, KPOP IS MY #1. <3

*side note: `cause i got reminded when you said that "x-man..toxic" by britney or something like that on the very first post: X-MAN KILLED THAT SONG AND LOSE MY BREATH BY DESTINY'S CHILD. i can't stand to even HEAR that song anymore ><; [heehee, sorry: irrelevant x] but it felt good to get it off my chest.. haha]

Oriental Cowgirl - Minh Tri, Viet Thuy used the karoke version of Run To You - DJ DOC. And, there was a Vietnamese version of Valenti - BoA.

"Originality is plagiarism undetected." - Unknown

that quote tells it all. O_O;;;

-S0LLY <3

i agree

Don't people plagarise everywhere? Oo

Don't people get raped and murdered everywhere?



In recent plagiarism news, there is a big issue going around in Korean hiphop community about
Drunken Tiger's music video for "소외된 모두 왼발을 한 보 앞으로" plagiarized Michael Jackson's "Stranger in Moscow".
The news surfaced soon after winning the honor of Best Video from m.net KM Music Video Festival.

Is it plagiarism or "covering"?

No way, only a simpleton would see any similarities between those videos. I mean, they have totally different people in both videos, and I bet they were filmed at different locations.

On the other hand, nice one.

For those of you who are saying plagiarism happens everywhere, see how many examples you can think up from your own country (unless you're Korean). As I said before, the US may be home to the world's most unoriginal music, but most of it isn't plagiarising.

^

Just to play devil's advocate didn't Vanilla Ice attempt to claim that "Ice Ice Baby" was completely original and had nothing in common with the Queen song, "Under Pressure?"

I'm half Viet, so can I name tons of plagiarism/"covering" whatever you wanna call it. Very little "originality". If there was, it would come from the senior singers.

He claimed that, but if I remember correctly from watching the Behind the Music, on VH1, he paid/pays them (Queen) royalties now. (After he got sued)



http://www.benedict.com/Audio/Vanilla/Vanilla.aspx

^^ very interesting comparison of Vanilla Ices song and Queens song

http://www.benedict.com/Default.aspx
^the web site is all about copy rights and legal troubles people have had in the past. rather interesting read if you are bored.


Did anyone compare the two videos before they won the award?

Famous plagiarism artist is Moon Heejun.

I somehow got a copy of his 3rd album for free and when I was listening to it, like 50% of the album had similar sound, such as

his "I dont care anything but music" was just sounded like one of the Rage Against The Machine song

eh there were some Linkin Park music,


so as othersss but


well you need to know that plarigism is SO COMMON that EVERYONE (ok most of ppl) does it.


its not a hot topic to bring up but anyway by copying, they are learning, i think

TO RACETRAITOR:

That Chae yeon song and Kylie Minolgue song are NOT really similar, more like the same genre of music! lol

Besides, most of the artist you mentioned aren't even that famous in Korea, so its probably the artist's that are desperate, and maybe don't have enough money to hire big time songwriters for their album... and the only person that's famous on your list is Chae Yeon, and Eun Ji Won.... but even chae yeon's song that you listed up there was from her first album, which was before she got famous.... She didn't make it big untill her 2nd album. And Eun Ji Won's song also didn't get hit compared to his other hit Drunken Melody, which was more orginal k-hiphop, so.....

I mean if someone really famous and respected, like boa, bi, or sg wannabe, were the ones that totally ripped off american music, and made really big hits, now that would be a big problem, because that represents that k-artists really do rip off american music, and are making a lot of money and fame out of it, which would be really wrong.....but these undergound k groups, they don't have a lot of money and resources.... and most likely becuase of their unorignality, they won't get famous anyway... I'm pretty sure there is a lot of underground music all over the world is pretty unoriginal.... I 've heard some really bad, and unoriginal underground hiphop music, right here in our own country, in the states, so.....

I'm not saying that k-pop is the most original music, but usually the big hit songs in Korea, are not ripped from US music.... more like borrowing ideas...which also happens more often in c-pop copying k-pop, so, I don't get why you targeted koreans.....

I targeted Korean music because I don't live in China. You're right that there aren't examples of plagiarism in the A-list popstars. Also, I'm not sure if all of those listed musicians are underground. I'm certain at least a few of them are household names.

Almoner said that X-Men is a Britney Tribute... so they obviously made it sound like TOXIC...

Kiss Kiss wasn't even by Holly Valance, or Stella Soleil... it was originally by Tarkan, from Turkey (cover song)

FunkyTown is off her remake album - (Cover Song)

---havent heard One two's song...

Chae Yeon is just singing techno/dance, they all sound the same... its just the genre...

Eun Ji Won's is similar to Jagged Edge's song... but just that phrase....

Nina's song sound kinda similar... but its not really a rip off... just the Hit'M, and the little intro with the talking (my american friends heard this and don't really notice much similarity)

haven't heard camp lo...

hm..interesting:)

a lot of the songs mentioned were covers with permission from original artists. :x

if you'd pay attention to the new's during the first part of 2005, Moon HeeJun is in actuality a friend of Linkin parks...
they even performed together at one point
and heejun is a rocker and has been since his h.o.t days
it's a genre similarity and nothing else

didn't read the whole thread...but SEOTAEJI (taeji boys) COME BACK HOME was one of the first and most obviousl ripoffs (of Cypress Hill) I noticed like almost 10 years back. the style that is.

they pretty much admitted to it... copying the most recent rock/rap trends in the US. but as it was so long ago, when kpop was REALLY REALLY in its infancy that only a few kyopos in the country even noticed. plus, they just copy trends...before anyone in Korea is hip to it....not songs directly. nothing wrong with that so to speak... but it still gets my goat when I hear people call him such an innovator. cause that's just incorrect. more power to him, but his "genius" comes from picking up on stuff already popular elsewhere.

fact of the matter is, there is still a lag in Korea for music trends. (and don't take all pissy ... yes, we are setting new trends in Asia with the hallryu stuff but its not NEW its just has the best format, packaged and marketing).

end.

(ps. there is a ton of unlicensed music that makes it on TV too. Its just nature of not being an Advanced ecnomy yet). oh well. its getting better at least.

U CANT SAY THAT ABOUT SEO TAIJI!!!

he just did lmao