Shakatak hires musicologist to prove NewJeans ripped off music

British band Shakatak said it would hire a musicologist to prove that girl group NewJeans copied its music without permission.

Girl group NewJeans [ADOR]

British band Shakatak said it would hire a musicologist to prove that girl group NewJeans copied its music without permission.

"Our publishing company Wise Music Group is on the case and has employed a musicologist to take this further," the band wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday. "We will keep you posted."

The post came a day after Korean news outlets reported that Shakatak's copyright management company Wise Music Group had sent a letter of claim to ADOR, HYBE, the Korea Music Copyright Association (Komca) and Sony Music Publishing Hong Kong on June 17, claiming that NewJeans' "Bubble Gum" copied Shakatak's "Easier Said Than Done" (1982) and therefore infringed on the British band's copyright.

ADOR is NewJeans' agency and HYBE owns ADOR. Sony Music Publishing Hong Kong's Korean branch is the music publisher for "Bubble Gum."

The British company argued that "Bubble Gum" has the "Same distinctive melody hook" as well as other similar elements, demanding that the Korean rights holders of "Bubble Gum" take the song off the market and pay compensation.

ADOR refuted the claim in a reply on June 21 and demanded Wise Music Group hand in "a detailed analysis report from a credible source."

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]