JYP Entertainment, the music company behind K-pop group Stray Kids, is suing a DIY distributor over claims that it uploaded a pirated recording of a solo track by member HAN to streaming services. The label is seeking financial damages.
The allegations#
The Wednesday (Nov. 4) lawsuit concerns “back to life,” the June solo track by HAN. JYP Entertainment (JYPE) alleges that OneSync Music re-uploaded a version of the song taken from YouTube in order to “profit from the track performed by HAN and stolen from JYPE.”
According to the lawsuit, JYPE first released the song on YouTube as a prerelease music video in May. Days later, a version appeared on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube under the artist profile “yungzzz,” with JYPE’s original copyright management data removed.
How the track was traced#
JYPE says YouTube metadata showed that the recording was put on streaming services by Hitmaker Music Group, an indie distributor that operates in partnership with Warner’s Atlantic Records and 10K Projects. After JYPE contacted Hitmaker, the company’s lawyers allegedly identified Miles Gaines as the owner of the “yungzzz” distribution account.
Gaines is a Los Angeles-based rapper and the founder of OneSync, a DIY distributor that launched this year. JYPE says Gaines and OneSync are responsible for posting the track. The lawsuit states: “Defendants knew that they (or ‘yungzzz’) did not author, create, perform on, or own the sound recording, and knew that they had unlawfully reproduced it from JYPE’s prerelease.”
Claims and parties named#
JYPE is seeking financial damages from Gaines and OneSync on the following grounds:
- Copyright infringement
- Violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which makes it illegal to remove authorship watermarks from music
Hitmaker is not accused of any wrongdoing.
Response from Gaines#
In a statement, Gaines said the “back to life” recording was submitted to OneSync by a third party. “I was unaware of the upload, and the recording has since been removed,” he said. “We are reviewing the underlying account and submission records to better understand how this occurred.”
Gaines added: “OneSync takes copyright protection and the rights of artists and copyright holders seriously. Our distribution operations incorporate multiple copyright review and screening measures designed to identify potentially unauthorized content.” He said OneSync will “cooperate through the appropriate legal process.”
