"Produce 101 Season 2" Contestant Criticized For Covering VIXX Member N's Dance Without Credit, Both Agencies Respond

Another contestant who will be competing in Mnet’s “Produce 101 Season 2” has been involved in a controversy ahead of the show’s premiere.

Mnet’s “Produce 101” is currently uploading profiles and self-introduction videos for each of the participants of its second season, in which male contestants will vie for spots in a temporary boy group. HF Music Company trainee Jung Won Chul’s video was one of a recent batch uploaded by the show, and features him performing a short modern dance piece to show off his talents.

However, VIXX fans soon noticed that the dance was the same as a solo dance that member N had performed at the group’s 2016 “VIXX LIVE FANTASIA ELYSIUM” concerts. The music is also the same in both performances, and the sound of screaming fans can be heard at the end of Jung Won Chul’s dance as though the music was taken from a video of N’s performance.

https://twitter.com/VanillaSugar929/status/841611462493782016

In response, HF Music Company released an apology via Twitter on March 14. Their statement reads as follows:

“Hello. This is HF Music Company.

This is an official statement regarding the controversy over the ‘Self-Introduction 1 Minute PR’ Video for our trainee Jung Won Chul, who is appearing in Mnet’s ‘Produce 101 Season 2.’

Despite the fact that we should have taken care in regards to the ‘Self-Introduction 1 Minute PR’ performance more so than anyone else, we were unable to do so, and we sincerely apologize for that. We also believe that the following are mistakes that would be difficult to tolerate, regardless of any reasons for them.

1. The fact that the choreography was used without any cited source or indication of copyright, despite it being VIXX member N’s individual creative work.

2. The fact that this was carried out without any confirmation in advance about the use of another artist’s creative work, even though as a talent agency we must recognize the importance of copyright.

All of our employees are well-informed about copyright and issues related to creative works, and so we will take steps to ensure that this same mistake does not occur again.

We bow our heads [in apology] once again to Jellyfish Entertainment and VIXX’s N who worked so hard on the performance, as well as the many Starlights who have been hurt by this issue.

We also apologize to the production staff of Mnet’s ‘Produce 101 Season 2’ for causing concern.

HF Music Company will do our best to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.

From all members of the HF Music Company family.”

In addition, a credit stating that the video includes a cover of N’s solo dance performance has since been added to the Naver TVCast upload of Jung Won Chul’s introduction video.

VIXX’s agency Jellyfish Entertainment has responded to the apology by issuing the following statement:

“We have seen the video and apology. We were in the process of discerning and confirming the parts that had been pointed out as problems. They did not indicate the name of the original choreographer in the video in question, but they later announced that it was a cover of N’s individual performance and made a formal apology, and so the company has decided to accept [the apology].”

With the “Produce 101 Season 2” premiere coming up on April 7, other contestants among the group of 101 trainees and idols have been criticized for their alleged past actions, including a trainee who has been accused of sexual harassment and bullying and another of impersonating G-Dragon for profit.

What do you think of the way this issue was handled?

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