Continuing malicious and indiscriminate attacks are being launched against IU (30, real name Lee Ji-eun), a renowned actress and singer.

Recently, an individual identified as 'A', whose relevance to the music industry remains unverified, filed a complaint with the police, alleging that six of IU's songs - "Good Day", "Red Shoes", "Bbibbi", "A Gloomy Clock", "Zeze", and "Celebrity" - plagiarized music from foreign artists.

Following this, allegations of plagiarism against IU rapidly spread online in the form of fake news, leading to an inevitable severe blow to her image.

Industry insiders view the complaint by 'A' as a trivial matter and a forced attempt to discredit IU.

First off, 'A' seems to have targeted the wrong person. Copyrights (intellectual property) fall within the purview of the composer, not the singer, so IU has little to do with it. Among these songs, IU only participated in the composition of "Celebrity", yet 'A' chose to point out all six songs in the complaint.

The question of plagiarism is also unclear. Plagiarism in music is a 'complaint-based crime,' meaning it's difficult to establish unless the original creator asserts their copyright. Up until now, none of the original creators have made any specific claims about these songs being plagiarized.

The composers of IU's "Good Day" and "Red Shoes", Lee Min-soo, and "Bbibbi", Lee Jong-hoon, directly refuted any claims of plagiarism through their social networking service (SNS) accounts. The producer Choi Gap-won, who co-wrote and composed IU's "A Gloomy Clock", also emphasized that it was not a case of plagiarism.

Regardless, 'A' and some of his supporters remain unyielding. They have turned a deaf ear to the refutations, remaining immersed in their own world.

This movement brings to mind the 'Tajinyo' incident, where relentless allegations of academic fraud were made against Tablo (42, real name Lee Seon-woong) of the group Epik High, causing him significant distress.

Tajinyo, an abbreviation of a Naver Cafe group demanding truth from Tablo, stirred controversy by questioning Tablo's Stanford University credentials from 2010.

The conclusion was baseless. Tablo, who had enrolled at Stanford University in September 1998 and completed his bachelor's and master's degrees by June 2002, was confirmed as a graduate. Despite Tablo presenting his Stanford diploma and transcript, and the university officially confirming his graduation, Tajinyo persistently raised doubts.

This case was finally resolved when the Supreme Court upheld prison sentences for some Tajinyo members charged with defamation. In January 2014, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal of a Tajinyo member and upheld the original sentence of eight months in prison, suspended for two years.

However, the persistent harassment by Tajinyo caused considerable harm to Tablo and his family. Not only was Tablo's entertainment career greatly impacted, forcing him to worry about his livelihood, but his father also died from stress while receiving cancer treatment. His brother, a well-known English teacher, lost his job.

The situation surrounding IU appears strikingly similar to the Tajinyo incident, and industry observers predict a similar outcome. IU's side has defined the plagiarism accusation as an attempt to tarnish her reputation and expressed their proactive response.

Her agency, EDAM Entertainment, expressed discomfort, stating, "Based on what we've learned from law enforcement and media reports so far, the accuser is not targeting the composers with allegationsof plagiarism but is solely targeting IU."

They further emphasized, "Even in a situation where some composers are saying that there is no plagiarism, the fact that a third party, unrelated to the copyright, has gone out of their way to accuse singer IU alone, clearly shows that the intention is to tarnish the artist's image." They warned, "We believe that law enforcement will make a quick and wise decision on this clearly erroneous accusation. Depending on the outcome, we will hold the accuser and others who have made indiscriminate accusations responsible for their actions."

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