Jung Wonchul’s Agency Apologizes For Plagiarizing VIXX N on Produce 101

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Both Jung Wonchul‘s and VIXX N‘s companies have responded to the plagiarism accusations in Wonchul’s Produce 101 introduction video. Mnet has been uploading video self-introductions of each of the Produce 101 Season 2 contestants on their YouTube channel and recently, they uploaded HF Music Company trainee Jung Wonchul’s. In his video, he can be seen performing a short modern dance as his talent. VIXX fans soon noticed that the dance was similar to N’s dance that he performed as a solo stage at the group’s concert. The music is similar and it was also pointed out that at the end of Jung Wonchul’s dance, the fan’s cheers from the concert can still be heard. HF Music Company released their apology on March 14, saying,

“Hello, this is HF Music Company. This is our official position regarding the controversy over the ‘One Minute Self-Introduction’ for our trainee Jung Wonchul. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by the ‘One Minute Self-Introduction’ performance. We should have been more careful with setting it up, and we did not. The following mistakes are ones that are unacceptable for any reason.

  1. Using VIXX member N’s personal choreography without citing a source or acknowledging a copyright.
  2. Using this choreography without recognizing and confirming with the artist that we are allowed to, even though we are an entertainment agency and know the importance of copyrights.

We will keep in mind any potential issues about copyrights and creation rights so that we will not repeat this same mistake in the future. We ould like to bow our heads in apology to Jellyfish Entertainment and Vixx’s N who worked so hard on creating that performance. We would also like to bow our heads in apology to all Starlights. Finally, we apologize to the production team of Produce 101 Season 2 for creating an issue. HF Music Company will do our best to prevent any inconveniences in the future.” — HF Music Company

In response to this, Jellyfish Entertainment released a short statement acknowledging the incident and forgiving HF Music Company.

“We have already looked at the video in question and the apology. We were in the process of locating the problematic issues that were pointed out. Originally they did not credit the choreographer in the video, but because they later announced that it was N’s performance, as well as releasing a formal apology, we have decided to accept their apology.” — Jellyfish Entertainment

Although the second season of Produce 101 has not begun airing yet, there have already been many trainees in the spotlight for their actions. Jeong Jungji was accused of sexual molestation while Han Jong Yeon was accused of bullying a classmate in school. Watch the comparison of the two dances below.

Source: HF Music Company, Sports Donga

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