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As per Koreaboo, on October 18, 2023, HYBE and NewJeans made headlines regarding an incident involving alleged plagiarism. According to reports by the American website, KPOPSTARZ, HYBE is suing an indie music band, OKPOP, for copying NewJeans' logo. The indie K-pop group is a co-ed, independent, satirical group, including Brto, Yuuta, Smear, Hanbon, and Paige from Rutgers University. OKPOP has a 371.5K strong following on TikTok.
Netizens pointed out the absurdity of HYBE suing the indie K-pop group over NewJeans' logo given that it was used for satirical purposes. X user @minjohneun wrote:
"Like yeah the logo is similar to new jeans’ logo but it is satire so it’s not stealing bcus it’s a parody."
News of the lawsuit went viral when OKPOP posted about it on their TikTok handle on October 17, 2023. While they made it clear that they could not reveal who filed the lawsuit because of legal restrictions, many appear to believe that it was HYBE. In addition, OKPOP provided further hints by including a Minji photocard in their said video.
In the video, the group also introduced their new mascot, which is a bear.
OKPOP and NewJeans being roped into a plagiarism conflict has split the internet
In a different video, a netizen remarked that the indie group is using NewJeans' influence to gain attention. In response, OKPOP shared some images of the courtroom where the trial took place and claimed that they had been sued for USD $1,500,000.
Netizens were outraged by the excessive amount OKPOP had been sued for, and many said that since the group has a limited fan base, HYBE should have used the stop-and-desist method instead. Others argued that artists who spoof other artists ought to be shielded from copyright.
In the midst of the controversy and the allegations of plagiarims, many netizens took to social media to sarcastically say that NewJeans was the one who "plagiarized them," with many adding that they had "never heard" of the HYBE group.
Fans of the rookie girl group from HYBE were quick to voice their protest about the logo and asserted that these were marketing strategies used by the indie group to gain audiences. While a fan, @softboiledtokki tweeted that this is "basic plagiarism", another fan @not_hyein claimed that OKPOP is creating a "hateful environment" for the popular girl group from HYBE.
Other plagiarism allegations surrounding NewJeans
This is not the first time that the girl group from HYBE has landed in a plagiarism dispute. Earlier, they came under fire for allegedly copying the logo of girl group WJSN for their first EP. The album cover for NewJeans' self-titled first EP, which was released on August 1, 2023, was unveiled on July 25, 2023.
On July 26, 2023, the quintet made headlines on X, formerly Twitter, after one user questioned whether a doodle from the album design of the rookie group was the same as WJSN's logo, with some online users accusing the girl group of plagiarism.
In other news, on October 3, 2023, the HYBE girl group recently released their collaboration song, the World Championship anthem, GODS, with Riot Games' League of Legends.
