W Korea has issued a statement with regards to the alleged plagiarism used by 9MUSES on their comeback photo.
Recently, 9MUSES released a set of concept teasers as part of their comeback promotions for “Drama” that was immediately swept up in a plagiarism controversy for its similarities to one of W Korea’s issues.
Through a press release published on January 15th, W Korea stated that, “There was no previous inquiry regarding the photoshoot in question and there was no agreement made beforehand.” Further explaining that, “We are releasing this press release to correct the information that is being reported about the 9MUSES jacket photos released on January 14th. Contrary to what is being reported and what Star Empire has stated about a ‘previous agreement with the photographer’ and ‘checking copyrights before shooting,’ W Korea’s editorial department and photographer Hong Jang Hyun did not receive any inquires nor did they make any agreements regarding the photographs in question.”
The statement contradicted Star Empire’s previous statement confirming that, “The new 9MUSES album jacket photographs paid homage to the W Korea photoshoot,” emphasising that as there had been no copyright issues.
The photos continue to garner much interest in online as netizens compare the original photos to the group’s comeback concepts.
Source: Osen
