The copyright dispute over FIFTY FIFTY’s global hit Cupid is far from over — the case will now be starting again from the beginning.
On September 5, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Division 5-2 announced that it will hold the first appeal hearing on November 6 for the copyright confirmation lawsuit filed by ATTRAKT against producer group The Givers.
Previously, in the first trial, the court had dismissed ATTRAKT’s claims, saying, “The plaintiff’s claims have no grounds.” ATTRAKT originally filed the lawsuit in November 2023, arguing that the copyright to Cupid — currently held by The Givers — should legally belong to them. After losing the case, ATTRAKT filed an appeal with a new legal team.
Released in 2023, Cupid became a global sensation, charting for weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and turning FIFTY FIFTY into a breakout group. But ownership disputes between The Givers and ATTRAKT quickly escalated into one of K-pop’s biggest legal battles.
The conflict also worsened relations between ATTRAKT and the group. In June 2023, ATTRAKT accused FIFTY FIFTY of being tampered with by outside forces. Two months later, members Saena, Aran, and Sio filed for a court injunction to suspend their exclusive contracts, but their request was denied. Member Keena later withdrew her appeal and returned to ATTRAKT, while the contracts of the other three members were terminated.
ATTRAKT has since filed a ₩13 billion KRW lawsuit for damages against Saena, Aran, Sio, their parents, The Givers’ CEO Ahn Sung Il, director Baek, and others — a total of 12 people. CEO Jeon Hong Joon also filed criminal charges against Ahn Sung Il for embezzlement, forgery, and use of forged documents. Ahn had already been sent to prosecutors earlier for obstruction of business and destruction of electronic records, as well as additional embezzlement charges.
ATTRAKT announced that it had newly appointed law firm Kim & Chang to lead the appeal, with lawyer Eun Hyun Ho stating: “We are aware that cases are already ongoing regarding The Givers’ forgery of documents and violation of outsourcing contracts. We are preparing to respond to unauthorized copyright registration and will also address the issue of Keena’s creative contribution being unfairly reduced.”
Meanwhile, The Givers welcomed the earlier ruling, saying: “This shows that our efforts to correct false claims were justified. We hope the court’s decision will serve as an objective standard in similar cases.”
At the same time, former members Aran, Saena, and Sio have re-entered the music scene as part of a new girl group called Ablum under CEO Ahn Sung Il’s agency MASSIVE VNC. The agency stated, “We reviewed all legal issues and evidence transparently with the members before signing. We are committed to resolving controversies together and ask that baseless speculation does not spread further.”
The next court hearing in November is expected to be a key turning point in the ongoing Cupid copyright war.
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