IU's Agency Refutes Claims Of Not Responding To NEKTA Regarding Plagiarism Issues

On June 21, IU’s agency EDAM Entertainment refuted NEKTA’s claims that IU’s agency at the time did not respond to their attempts at contact regarding the plagiarism controversy over “The Red Shoes.”

Read the agency’s full statement below:

This is IU’s agency EDAM Entertainment.
We would like to inform you of our position as below regarding today’s report.

German band NEKTA’s claims are clearly different from basic facts.

NEKTA recently claimed through their website that they contacted the artist and her then-agency LOEN Entertainment as well as her current agency EDAM Entertainment several times from 2013, when allegations of plagiarism were raised, to the present but that we did not respond.

However, this is not true.

In this regard, on June 21, we refute NEKTA’s claim, “They did not respond,” by disclosing through our official social media a portion of the email that was sent to NEKTA by [IU’s] then agency LOEN Entertainment via their legal representative.

The email published on social media was sent to NEKTA on “December 4, 2013,” and the sender was LOEN’s legal representative.

In the official letter sent by the law firm to NEKTA at the time, it states that, “There are cases wherein the purported legal representatives of foreign copyright holders have turned out to be not authorized by the copyright holders. Thus, we would like to request that NEKTA members Gyso Hilger and Nathalie Schaefer as well as Nordend Entertainment Publishing provide a copy of the power of attorney duly executed.”

This should be document that supports the statement of producer Jo Young Chul, who produced IU’s album, from last month that it was indeed NEKTA that did not respond to the emails and official statements which attempted to confirm the basic facts.

In addition, as opposed to what NEKTA claims on their website, neither the agency, the then agency, nor the composer, etc. have released any interviews, press releases, or official statements stating that the discussions in this regard have been concluded. Furthermore, since the artist is a singer and not a copyright holder, we believe that a cautious stance must be maintained in disclosing opinions related to copyright issues.

Meanwhile, we confirmed that NEKTA recently sent an email to us once again.

As this is a serious issue, we confirm that we sent a response to NEKTA on June 20 after going through processes including legal review.

Prior to releasing the statement, EDAM Entertainment disclosed a portion of the email that LOEN Entertainment sent to NEKTA via their legal representative at that time. The email is as follows:

Previously in May, it was reported that a complaint was filed against IU on the violation of copyright law with regards to her six songs “The Red Shoes,” “Good Day,” “BBIBBI,” “pitiful,” “Boo,” and “Celebrity.” IU’s agency EDAM Entertainment has since released an official statement regarding the accusations and announced strong legal action against malicious rumors.

On May 11, Lee Min Soo, who wrote IU’s “The Red Shoes” and “Good Day,” personally addressed these allegations of plagiarism. Amidst this situation, NEKTA recently claimed that they they did not receive a response from IU nor her agency to all their emails and attempts at communication.

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