The world’s largest K-pop company does not take well to accusations of plagiarism—even from YouTube fan accounts.
Entertainment group Hybe, home to BTS and other bands, is asking a U.S. court to force Google to reveal the identities behind seven YouTube accounts. In court documents filed Monday and reported on by Music Business Worldwide, Hybe says that these YouTube accounts issued “defamatory and harassing statements” about two of its girls groups, Illit and Le Sserafim. It describes the people behind these YouTube channels as “cyber wreckers.” The company is pursuing civil litigation against the accounts in South Korea. (Neither Hybe nor Google responded to requests for comment.)
The petition appears to be an escalation of one of the biggest conflicts in K-pop history: Hybe’s battle over control of its lucrative girl group, NewJeans, whose five members recently held a live stream where they alleged mistreatment by the company. The court documents filed by Hybe are particularly focused on identifying YouTube streamers that have accused Hybe and Illit of “plagiarizing content” from NewJeans. Illit has been called out across social media in recent months for similarities to the style and sound of NewJeans.
NewJeans, launched by K-pop auteur Min Hee-jin in 2022 under her sub-label ADOR, has been a massive success for Hybe. The company made $83 million off NewJeans in 2023, thanks to the group’s global hit songs and brand campaigns with the likes of Apple and Coca-Cola. NewJeans members also serve as brand ambassadors for major luxury labels, including Chanel, Gucci, Burberry, Dior, and Louis Vuitton. The mix of creative and business savvy earned Hybe and ADOR a place on Fast Company’s list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2024.
But Min and Hybe have spent the past several months fighting over ADOR and NewJeans. This spring, Hybe launched an investigation into whether Min was trying to wrest control of the label and take it independent. Min, in turn, accused Hybe of launching Illit as a competing girl group, while trying to drive her from the company. She released a statement in April declaring that Hybe is “blinded by short-term profits and is mass-producing unoriginality by copying successful cultural content without hesitation.”
Min held a unique role as CEO and producer of ADOR, handling both the business and creative of NewJeans. Fast Company spoke with her at length in a multi-hour interview from November 2023—before these controversies started. “In most cases, people separate the creative side and the business side. But I thought that the two things had to be together in order to be perfect,” she said.
After months of tension and investigation into Min’s practices at ADOR, the label announced that Min would step down as CEO in late August, though she would still fulfill her creative roles. The five members of NewJeans responded earlier this week by launching a live stream on YouTube (on an account unrelated to Hybe’s new suit), where they highlighted their mistreatment by Hybe and called for the reinstatement of their founder by September 25. Hybe’s shares dropped 6.2% following the stream.
This case isn’t the first time Hybe has asked U.S. courts to force YouTube to release the identities of people besmirching its artists. ADOR, under Min, made similar demands earlier this year.