According to Korean media reports on February 27, HYBE, together with subsidiaries Belift Lab and Source Music, filed a civil lawsuit against the defendants for 280 million won (about $195,306) in damages in the Seoul Western District Court on August 30, 2023. The lawsuit was based on a complaint that seven YouTube channels defamed the label's artists, including ILLIT and LE SSERAFIM.
The lawsuit includes Cute Rabbit Jjang, EnterPick, People Box, Da Issue, NewJeansFam, Issue Tan and Wangjam Issue channels.
These channels accused Belift Lab's K-pop group ILLIT of plagiarizing other artists' music and spread accusations that LE SSERAFIM members of Source Music lacked talent.
Before filing a lawsuit in the Seoul Western District Court, HYBE, Belift Lab and Source Music filed a legal request on September 9, 2023 in a US court to ask a US court to confirm the identities of these defamants. After that, the US court said that only one of the many defendants was determined to be successful.
HYBE then submitted a true investigation report to the Seoul Western District Court on December 10, 2023, and officially determined the identity of the " single plaintiff" on February 20, 2024. The defendant's name was partially revealed as "Investment OOOOOO".
Given the nature of the content, HYBE speculates that this person could be a commercial cyber sabotageman profiting from collecting and amplifying controversial topics.
Regarding the incident, a HYBE representative stated, "We cannot comment on the ongoing litigation procedures."
