CIX Removes Anniversary Merch After Netizens Criticize Them For Alleged Plagiarism

CIX recently had to cancel merchandise sales for their second-anniversary celebration due to fans suspecting them of plagiarism. Netizens noticed that the merch featured images of the boys wearing outfits that closely resembled the uniforms in the anime The Prince of Tennis.

The uniforms are indeed similar, with the biggest difference only really being that the red collar line is a bit thicker. The boys were dressed for a tennis concept, so it made netizens even warier.

Today, C9 Entertainment addressed fans’ concerns and took all of their listings down. This is their full statement:

To commemorate the 2nd debut anniversary of CIX, we took and released some photos under the concept of ‘tennis club players.’ We planned to make and sell commemorative goods with part of the photos.

In this process, we have identified that the design of a particular animation’s costume is quite similar to that of the concept photo, and we fully agree that selling commemorative goods in this situation would be ethically problematic, apart from legal issues.

Therefore, we would like to cancel the entire sale of the commemorative goods. No products have been sold or shipped so far, and we would like to refund all of the pre-orders in a short time.

We will try to be more careful in every aspect in the future.

—C9 Entertainment