‘Exactly the same’: Girls’ Generation’s new music video struck by plagiarism claims, director apologises

Their new music video is supposed to celebrate their return but this mistake might have left them flying too close to the sun.

The director of Girls’ Generation’s new music video Forever 1 apologised on Instagram yesterday (Aug 14) after netizens pointed out how a background prop looks identical to one made for Tokyo DisneySea.

The clock-like design of the prop and the large “15” emblazoned on it both look very similar to what Tokyo DisneySea used for their own 15th anniversary, which the theme park celebrated between April 2016 and March 2017.

Said one netizen in Japanese: “Huh? Isn’t this a copy of DisneySea’s 15th anniversary?”

One Twitter user also said: “It’s exactly the same.”

The music video’s (MV) director Shin Hee-won reportedly posted on Instagram addressing this issue.

“I would like to apologise for hurting Girls’ Generation and SM Entertainment due to the controversy surrounding the set design of the Forever 1 MV,” Shin began.

According to Koreaboo, the director went on to explain that the “design was borrowed without permission”, expressing shame and apologising for it.

Shin added: “I only confirmed today (Aug 14) that this design was the design used by Japan’s Tokyo DisneySea for its 15th anniversary and I would like to sincerely apologise for using this image without any form of confirmation or permission.

“In order to ensure that this does not happen again, I will check all matters related to production thoroughly from now on.

“Finally, I would like to once again apologise to Girls’ Generation, SM Entertainment and to all the fans who watched Girls’ Generation’s MV for causing such a troublesome incident with a careless mistake.”

The music video was made in celebration of Girls’ Generation’s return after being on hiatus when three members left SM Entertainment in October 2017. Five members of Girls’ Generation formed the sub-group Oh!GG after the split.

But this isn’t SM Entertainment’s first time being accused of plagiarism.

Singer-songwriter Louis Tomlinson was added to the list of composers behind EXO’s song Love Shot after plagiarism accusations by netizens at the end of 2018, Allkpop reported. EXO is a boy band formed by SM Entertainment that debuted in 2012.

In another incident in 2020, girl group Aespa’s debut music video Black Mamba was suspected by netizens of plagiarising K/DA’s Popstars and a German artist’s work after similarities in the subway train setting of the music video.

SM Entertainment later clarified that they contacted “the artist and company” that were the alleged victims of plagiarism and explained their planning intentions and world-building behind Aespa.

“The artist and company understood our agency’s planning and production process and they confirmed they have no objections to the music video scene,” SM Entertainment was reported to have announced in December 2020, reported Kbizoom.