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Olivia Marsh's agency acknowledges 'similarities' but denies plagiarism of song 'Backseat'

Published: 26 Feb. 2025, 18:27 Updated: 26 Feb. 2025, 18:29

KIM JI-YE
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Singer-songwriter Olivia Marsh [MPLIFY]

Rookie singer and songwriter Olivia Marsh's agency MPLIFY issued another statement on Wednesday saying that it has never acknowledged that its artist's new song "Backseat" plagiarized Isaac Dunbar's "Onion Boy" (2019).

"The statement we issued on Monday seems to have led to misunderstandings and controversy," MPLIFY, a subsidiary of Warner Music Korea, said in a statement.

"We said that we acknowledge the claims made by Dunbar that there is a similarity between the two songs," the agency said. "However, this does not imply that Olivia Marsh engaged in plagiarism. What we acknowledged was that some similarities exist and that Isaac Dunbar's rights should be recognized."

Plagiarism concerns were raised regarding "Backseat," one of the double lead tracks from Marsh’s debut album “Meanwhile,” following allegations that the song closely resembled Dunbar’s "Onion Boy." These concerns surfaced after the release of the lead track.

Regarding the issue, the agency released a statement on Monday saying that it had added Dunbar’s name to the songwriting credits for “Backseat.”

“After verifying the facts and recognizing the similarity, the composers responsible for the issue were removed from the credits and Dunbar was included,” the agency said its latest statement. MPLIFY also said that it had reached a mutual agreement with Dunbar and finished the steps to ensure the protection of the original creator's rights.

Marsh participated in completing the song after receiving the track, and the artist and agency were not informed that the composers had used part of “Onion Boy” as a reference during the process, MPLIFY said.

“Both the artist and the label acknowledge our responsibility for not properly verifying this during the album production process, and to take responsibility for this, we communicated with Dunbar's team to resolve the issue,” MPLIFY said. “We also empathized with and apologized for the sense of loss Dunbar must have felt as a creator.”

Dunbar also clarified that he wanted to raise the issue with those who referenced his track, and not Marsh specifically, and apologized to the agency on the issue, according to MPLIFY.

“We are also reviewing future actions regarding the composers responsible for this situation,” MPLIFY added.

Marsh, the sister of NewJeans member Danielle, began composing music in 2023 under the name Livy, when writing either the lyrics or music, and uses the name Gyuna as a vocalist.

Her debut album was released on Feb. 13.

As a writer, she has collaborated with several renowned K-pop artists, including girl group Kep1er for “Happy Ending” (2023), Loossemble for “Sensitive” (2023), BoA for “Emptiness” (2024) and Kiss of Life for “R.E.M” (2024).

BY KIM JI-YE [[email protected]]