Korean media reported that on August 12, the Mapo Police Department in Seoul (Korea) conducted two raids on the offices of YG Entertainment Company in Mapo-gu and the Korean Music copyright Association in Gangseo-gu.
This is the beginning of a comprehensive investigation after the police received a complaint from musician A in November last year, accusing singer G-Dragon (Big Bang) and former YG Entertainment Chairman Yang Hyun Suk of illegally copying his song.
According to Mr. A's complaint, G-Dragon and former Chairman Yang illegally copied the song "G-DRAGON" composed by him, arbitrarily changing its name to "My Age is 13" and included it in G-Dragon's live album "Shine a Light" called "My Age is 13 + Storm + Hip Hop Gentlemen + G-Dragon". The album was released in 2010.
It is reported that Mr. A also filed a lawsuit against Yang Min Suk - former CEO of YG Entertainment and younger brother of former Chairman Yang Hyun Suk; and Mr. Choi - CEO of subsidiary YG Plus.
"We have completed the search and seizure, and the investigation is still ongoing," said a police official.
Regarding this accusation, YG Entertainment responded: "This is not an illegal copying of music, but an incident that occurred when two songs with the same title were written during preparation for G-Dragon's solo concert in 2009".
G-Dragon joined YG Entertainment at the age of 13 and officially debuted as the leader of Big Bang after 6 years as a trainee of the company (2006).
The male singer born in 1988 with his musical personality, unique style and impressive composing talent has become the most successful Kpop star in history.
Producer Yang Hyun Suk plays an important role in the development of Big Bang and G-Dragon. The male singer and the former YG President also have a very close relationship.
But by 2023, rumors of discord between the two exploded over G-Dragon's contract issues and incidents. Finally, G-Dragon decided to part ways with YG after more than 2 decades of association. The male singer joined the new company Galaxy Corporation in December 2023 and has been active until now.
Last November, a scene where G-Dragon chatted intimately with Yang Hyun Suk at 2NE1's concert made the audience believe that the two had made peace. At the 2024 MAMA awards ceremony, G-Dragon also thanked former President Yang in his acceptance speech.
