Plagiarism lawsuit involving ILLIT, Min Hee Jin to begin trial in January 2025—reports
The legal battle over plagiarism allegations between Belift Lab, the agency of the K-pop girl group ILLIT, and Min Hee Jin, the former CEO of ADOR, is set to have its first trial in January 2025.
Citing legal sources, Korean news sites Allkpop and Star News reported on Monday, Nov. 18, that the 12th Civil Division of the Seoul Western District Court will hold the initial arguments on Jan. 10, 2025. Belift Lab claimed two billion Korean Won ($1.1 million or around P84 million) in damages against Hee Jin.
The former ADOR CEO first spewed plagiarism allegations against HYBE’s label Belift Lab in April this year for “copying” K-pop girl group NewJeans for a new group, ILLIT. However, the parent agency has since denied the allegations and eventually filed a lawsuit against Hee Jin in June for alleged defamation.
Belift Lab claims that ILLIT’s branding strategy and concept were finalized and shared internally on July 21, 2023, while the “planning document” for NewJeans was sent a month later.
The civil lawsuit will “hold Min accountable for the damages suffered by our artists, Belift Lab staff, and participating creators who have endured the burden of plagiarism accusations despite achieving remarkable debut success in K-pop history,” a statement read, per Soompi.
For her part, Hee Jin’s team claims during the injunction lawsuit that an informant alleged that ILLIT’s creative director received the document during ILLIT’s conceptualization phase.
The report added that Belift Lab also filed complaints against Hee Jin for business interference and defamation, saying, “Min Hee Jin has used an innocent rookie group as a scapegoat for her personal gain.”
ICYDK, HYBE is a parent company that handles various labels, including ADOR and Belift Lab, allowing them to “independently create their music and pursue cultural diversity” in the K-pop scene.
In September, NewJeans broke their silence on the issue for the first time via a surprise live broadcast on their YouTube channel, where they demanded for reinstatement of Hee Jin as CEO.
On Oct. 29, Soompi reported that the court had denied Hee Jin’s request for an injunction for her reappointment as ADOR CEO, saying her claims “did not meet the legal requirements to constitute grounds for an injunction.”
ILLIT, composed of Yunah, Moka, Minju, Iroha, and Wonhee, recently debuted in March this year with an EP dubbed Super Real Me that included their hit track Magnetic.
Meanwhile, NewJeans is a five-member group that debuted in July 2022, composed of Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, Minji, and Hyein. They are known for their 1990 and Y2K aesthetics, as well as for their hit tracks including OMG, Ditto, Hype Boy, and Super Shy.
