HYBE are pursuing legal proceedings over a pre-release leak of BTS' 'ARIRANG'
Label seeks court subpoena to identify anonymous X account behind leak
BTS' label BigHit Music have launched a legal effort in the United States to identify an anonymous social media user accused of leaking material from 'ARIRANG' prior to the album arriving in March.
Filed on 9th April, the court petition seeks a subpoena compelling X to hand over identifying details for the account @jwngkcck. According to BigHit, this account shared songs, lyrics and artwork from the record on the platform in early March, weeks before BTS' long-awaited return with their first album in six years. Once the user's identity is obtained, the HYBE subsidiary plans to pursue a civil case in South Korea seeking financial damages related to copyright and trade secret infringement.
Court documents outline the scale of preparation behind BTS releases, stating: "BigHit and BTS invest extensive resources into planning and executing the most effective release of albums, songs, lyrics and associated material as possible, so as to have the greatest possible impact on potential listeners and the market when the media are released. The leak of BTS's album destroyed the element of surprise that applicant was building up towards its release, negatively impacting its reputation and sales."
The offending posts have since been removed from the @jwngkcck account, with BigHit noting that the user also changed their display name from "BTS ARIRANG LEAK" following copyright infringement reports submitted to X.
This approach is well-established for HYBE, who have regularly utilised the U.S. court system to compel American-based platforms such as X and YouTube to reveal user information. Previous cases have seen the company seek to unmask individuals accused of spreading false rumours about acts on their roster, including NewJeans, SEVENTEEN and TWS.
Filed on 9th April, the court petition seeks a subpoena compelling X to hand over identifying details for the account @jwngkcck. According to BigHit, this account shared songs, lyrics and artwork from the record on the platform in early March, weeks before BTS' long-awaited return with their first album in six years. Once the user's identity is obtained, the HYBE subsidiary plans to pursue a civil case in South Korea seeking financial damages related to copyright and trade secret infringement.
Court documents outline the scale of preparation behind BTS releases, stating: "BigHit and BTS invest extensive resources into planning and executing the most effective release of albums, songs, lyrics and associated material as possible, so as to have the greatest possible impact on potential listeners and the market when the media are released. The leak of BTS's album destroyed the element of surprise that applicant was building up towards its release, negatively impacting its reputation and sales."
The offending posts have since been removed from the @jwngkcck account, with BigHit noting that the user also changed their display name from "BTS ARIRANG LEAK" following copyright infringement reports submitted to X.
This approach is well-established for HYBE, who have regularly utilised the U.S. court system to compel American-based platforms such as X and YouTube to reveal user information. Previous cases have seen the company seek to unmask individuals accused of spreading false rumours about acts on their roster, including NewJeans, SEVENTEEN and TWS.
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