A copyright battle over the viral song “Baby Shark,” adored by young children and often dreaded by their parents, has come to an end with a court clearing the Korean creators of the most popular version of plagiarism.
The internet fell in love with Pinkfong’s version of “Baby Shark,” featuring the unforgettable “doo doo doo doo doo doo” line. The rendition spawned spinoff TV shows, movies and smart phone apps, making the company millions. But in 2019 an American children’s songwriter claimed Pinkfong had copied his work.
Jonathan Wright, known as Johnny Only, took his claim all the way to South Korea’s Supreme Court, accusing Pinkfong of plagiarizing his earlier version of “Baby Shark.”
But the court ruled Thursday that Wright’s version cannot be considered “a creative work” of his, as there were already prior versions of Baby Shark in existence and he did not significantly add new creativity.
“The plaintiff’s song is difficult to be protected as a secondary copyrighted work because it did not reach a substantial alteration to the extend where it could be considered as a separate work, by social norms, from the oral song mentioned in this case,” said the ruling, reaffirming an earlier finding of a lower court.
