Court rules The Givers, not Attrakt, owns copyright to Fifty Fifty's mega-hit 'Cupid'
Producer Ahn Sung-il wins legal battle over global hit, with group still entangled in controversy and lawsuits
In the dispute over the copyright of girl group Fifty Fifty's global hit song "Cupid," a Korean court on Thursday ruled in favor of The Givers, an production outsourcing company led by producer Ahn Sung-il, rather than the group's agency Attrakt.
Attrakt had filed a lawsuit to confirm that it holds various rights to "Cupid," including the right to create derivative works, but the court did not accept this claim in the first trial.
"Cupid," released by Fifty Fifty in February 2023, gained massive popularity after going viral on social media platforms. The song landed at No. 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and remained on the chart for a total of 25 weeks.
The original version of "Cupid" was composed by Swedish songwriters, and all economic rights to the song were acquired from them by The Givers, led by producer Ahn Sung-il. Based on this, The Givers changed the copyright registration for "Cupid" to its own name with the Korea Music Copyright Association in March 2023.
Attrakt protested, claiming that the tasks delegated to The Givers included securing the copyright to the song. The agency also insisted that even the Swedish composers understood Attrakt to be the actual contracting party in the copyright transfer.
However, the Seoul Central District Court ruled on Thursday that based on the wording of the contract, it was clear that The Givers was to be assigned the copyright. The court also rejected Attrakt's claim that the service contract with The Givers included the task of acquiring copyright.
Fifty Fifty's crisis began soon after the remarkable success of "Cupid" in 2023, as all four Fifty Fifty members filed for a court injunction to suspend the validity of their exclusive contracts with Attrakt.
Although the case went to an appellate court, it was ultimately dismissed. Member Keena later withdrew her appeal and returned to Attrakt, while Attrakt terminated its contracts with the other three members — Aran, Saena and Sio — and reorganized Fifty Fifty as a quintet by recruiting new members.
Aran, Saena and Sio are currently preparing to debut under the new group name Ablume, working in collaboration with The Givers' CEO Ahn.
Keena, the only original member remaining in Fifty Fifty, filed a criminal complaint against Ahn last August, accusing him of forging private documents and using forged documents. Ahn allegedly forged Keena's signature to reduce her share of the "Cupid" copyright to 0.5 percent. Following a recent in-person police interrogation alongside Ahn, Keena began showing symptoms of PTSD, according to Attrakt, and decided not to participate in promotions for the album "Day & Night," released on April 29.
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