After being accused of plagiarizing Jonathan Wright, a U.S. children’s music composer, Pinkfong has won the lawsuit that began in 2019.
South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday (14) that Wright’s work could not be considered “a creative work,” since other versions of “Baby Shark” already existed before the South Korean company’s release.
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He had filed a lawsuit seeking $22 million in damages but ended up losing the case.
“The author’s song is difficult to protect as a copyrighted derivative work, because it did not achieve a substantial alteration to the extent of being considered […] a separate work from the oral song mentioned in this case,” the ruling stated.
+Watch the “Baby Shark” music video
Although it had already been performed elsewhere, it was Pinkfong’s version of “Baby Shark” that went viral on YouTube. The video on the company’s official channel has over 16 billion views.
Wright uploaded his version of the song in 2011 on his YouTube channel. His rendition also included the classic “doo doo doo doo doo doo,” with a clip showing him and children imitating a shark’s mouth with their hands.
Before the composer published his versions, the German version of “Baby Shark,” “Kleiner Hai”, had already gone viral in Europe on a smaller scale in 2010.
In 2015 and 2016, Pinkfong released its versions featuring cartoon sharks singing in Korean and later launched an English version with children performing choreography.
Photos: YouTube Baby Shark. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
