'Good Night Ojosama' song creator claims copyright infringement by Chinese music company

Comedian Kim Kyoung-wook, who rose to fame through his Japanese bar host character Tanaka, said that his popular song “Good Night Ojosama” has been the target of copyright infringement by a Chinese music company.

Comedian Kim Kyoung-wook poses for a photo at a cosmetics pop-up event held in Lotte Department Store in central Seoul on Jan. 6, 2023. [NEWS1]

Comedian Kim Kyoung-wook, who rose to fame through his Japanese bar host character Tanaka, said that his popular song “Good Night Ojosama” has been the target of copyright infringement by a Chinese music company.

"[I] have confirmed that a Chinese music agency has recently rearranged popular songs and newly registered them on Instagram (Meta), which has resulted in the forcible transfer of the ownership of the tracks,” Kim wrote in an Instagram post on Friday.

According to a report by Sportsseoul, the Chinese company distributed the altered version — nearly identical to the original but with subtle changes — on local music platforms and registered it with Meta’s rights management system. As a result, it is now difficult to use the original “Good Night Ojosama” on Instagram and other Meta platforms.

Kim is communicating with the music distributor to resolve this issue, and he warned other artists to be wary about this kind of event.

Kim released the track with YouTuber Needmorecash in February 2024. It received favorable reviews from fans, generating various social media challenges.

There have been several cases in which popular songs have been used by Chinese platforms without consent.

Some popular songs like Brown Eyes' “Already One Year” (2001) and g.o.d.'s “Road” (2001) were unauthorizedly used on Chinese platforms, which has led the Korean music industry to call for stronger action to strengthen the copyright protection system.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]