FIFTY FIFTY "Cupid" Copyright Dispute... Court Rules in Favor of The Givers

A court has ruled that the copyright to the global hit song "Cupid" by the girl group FIFTY FIFTY belongs to the outsourcing company The Givers, not their agency Attract. The Givers is a company run by producer Ahn Sungil, who was in charge of FIFTY FIFTY's early production.

The group FIFTY FIFTY achieved a career high with their third mini-album, Day & Night. Attract

According to the music industry on May 8, the 62nd Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Hyunseok) ruled against Attract in the first trial of the copyright confirmation lawsuit over "Cupid" filed against The Givers. The court stated, "According to the objective wording of the copyright transfer contract, the party is determined to be The Givers," and did not accept Attract's claims.

The key issue in this lawsuit was the ownership of the "copyright property rights." Copyright property rights refer to the right to commercially use or permit others to use a piece of music, and are separate from the act of creation itself. They determine who holds the authority to monetize the work.

Released in February 2023, "Cupid" spread through social networking services (SNS) such as TikTok and entered the main Billboard singles chart, the "Hot 100," in the United States. Its highest ranking was 17th, and it remained on the chart for a total of 25 weeks, setting the record at the time for the longest-charting K-pop female artist.

"Cupid" was originally composed by Swedish songwriters. Ahn Sungil, CEO of The Givers, purchased the copyright property rights from them in a buyout deal for about $9,000 (approximately 1.26 million KRW), and in March 2023, registered The Givers as the copyright holder with the Korea Music Copyright Association.

Attract, realizing this fact belatedly, argued that "under the service contract, the task of securing the copyright was delegated to The Givers, and the actual transferee of the copyright was Attract." They also claimed that the Swedish songwriters recognized Attract as the actual contracting party.

However, the court found that "it is difficult to see that tasks related to the acquisition of copyright were included in the service contract, and all substantial authority, including contract conclusion, negotiation, and cost-bearing, belonged to The Givers." The "song fee" paid by Attract was also deemed to correspond not to copyright, but to "neighboring rights," which are the rights of a record producer.

Meanwhile, separate from this ruling, Attract is pursuing civil and criminal lawsuits against The Givers and CEO Ahn Sungil, alleging "tampering" (pre-contract contact before the expiration of exclusive contracts) with FIFTY FIFTY members.

Shortly after the success of "Cupid" in mid-2023, all FIFTY FIFTY members filed for a provisional injunction to suspend the effectiveness of their exclusive contracts with Attract. Since then, only member Keena has returned, and the group is currently active as a five-member unit with four new recruits. Former members Saina, Aran, and Sio are preparing to debut as a three-member group called ablume with CEO Ahn Sungil.