BTS’s Plagiarism Controversy: Did BIGBANG’s VIPs Go Too Far?

BTS and BIGBANG fans went to war this week over accusations of plagiarism. The accusations came from BIGBANG’s fans, also known as VIPs, who claimed that the intro to BTS’s performance at the Gaon Chart Music Awards copied TOP’s solo performance at BIGBANG’s 10th anniversary party. They specifically highlight the “No Signal” screen that appeared before the beginning of the BTS’s performance as the reason behind the plagiarism claims.

https://twitter.com/kwontwoji/status/834426703451525120

(RELATED: BTS Allegedly Copy BIGBANG T.O.P.’s Performance, Outraged Fans Ask For Apology)

BIGBANG fans were incensed and called for an apology from everyone involved in BTS’ performance that night. As Koreaboo reported, the flames of the controversy were fanned even further when BIGBANG’s director, Rachel Cholong tweeted a picture of the “No Signal” screen on Instagram with the caption, “Hmm… Our hard work.” The post was liked by TOP’s sister, Choi Hye Youn.

https://twitter.com/overlays_kpop2/status/834747583876591616

BTS’ agency, Big Hit Entertainment, even had to put out a statement where they distanced themselves from the performance, saying officially that they had nothing to do with it.

“Our side did not prepare the production for BTS’ stage in general. These complaints have nothing to do with us,” the statement from Big Hit read, as reported by All Kpop.

Eventually, the production team behind the Gaon Chart Music Awards had to take the hit for the plagiarism claims. They admitted to outsourcing the production of the visuals for BTS’s performance which is why, they explained, the Bangtang Boys did not know anything about the video that was playing behind them, Koreaboo reports.

“After checking with the production (which we outsourced) for the award, the production did not monitor the video used for BTS’s performance carefully enough and they did not explain or show said video to BTS enough beforehand,” the apology from Gaon read.

“We bow our heads in apology to those affected and discomforted by this incident.”

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But many BTS fans say that there was no reason to accuse anyone of plagiarism because of the video. Their argument rests on the fact the “No Signal” text and imagery aren’t the intellectual property of TOP and BIGBANG. Furthermore, BTS, they claim, have used the “No Signal” symbol in performances previous to this one, so VIPs went too far when they accused BTS of plagiarism.

https://twitter.com/Dementia_Smile/status/834452153909571584

VIP'S need to mark Michael Jackson as plagiarism because he clearly copied BB and claimed it as his OWN style#VIPsApologizeToBTS pic.twitter.com/8PELb3btCh

— pussy bitch/moni? (@stanbts_mims) February 24, 2017

https://twitter.com/glowingyeojin/status/834483591237271561

But as the article in Koreaboo notes, those arguments don’t hold water when you consider that the intro video BTS used also contains images of the members in just like the one TOP used in his performance.

Based on the evidence and apology provided by the producers of the award show, it’s easy to conclude that whoever designed the visuals for BTS’ Gaon Chart Music Awards performance used the TOP performance as a reference. But it’s hard to blame BTS for that when it seems that the members may not have had any say in the visuals projected behind them as they performed.

Do you think that BIGBANG VIPs were right to call out BTS for plagiarism? Did BTS even commit an act of plagiarism in your opinion. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

[Featured Image by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images]