MBC to sue nightclubs for copyright
MBC will take legal action against nightclubs and businesses that take advantage of its special “Infinite Challenge” episodes “Saturday, Saturday, Singers,” a lawyer representing the broadcaster announced Wednesday.The two ’90s-themed episodes, also known as “Totoga” for short in Korean, set numerous viewership records when they aired earlier this month.
Riding on the immense popularity of the show, a club located in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, recently renamed itself to “Saturday, Saturday, K-pop.” It also shortened its name to “Totoga” and even changed its signboard using fonts similar to the show’s original logo.
The club, which opened Jan. 9, was formerly dedicated to hip-hop music but now invites singers who appeared in the original show, such as Jinusean and Lee Jae-hoon of Cool.
Go Jung-hyun, a lawyer working for MBC, told the Munhwa Ilbo on Wednesday that the broadcasting station will first send letters of notification to these businesses to tell them to stop using names and signboards similar to the “Infinite Challenge” episode.
“If they don’t, we’ll take all possible legal measures to stop them from taking advantage of the show,” said Go.
The programs evoked enough nostalgia to exert an influence over the music market. Some 1990s hits made it into major music portals’ charts after the shows were televised.
Some singers also resumed their careers by releasing digital singles.
BY SUNG SO-YOUNG [so@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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