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The Givers, not Attrakt, owns rights to Fifty Fifty’s ‘Cupid,’ court says

Published: 09 May. 2025, 09:49 Updated: 11 May. 2025, 18:17

Girl group Fifty Fifty [ATTRAKT]

The copyright to girl group Fifty Fifty’s breakout hit “Cupid” (2023) does not belong to their agency, Attrakt, but to The Givers, a third-party production company led by producer Ahn Sung-il, a Seoul court ruled Thursday.

The Seoul Central District Court struck Attrakt’s lawsuit against The Givers, siding with the production company in a case that centered on the economic rights to the 2023 viral hit, the JoongAng Ilbo reported Thursday.

Attrakt had claimed ownership over the song’s economic rights, including reproduction, performance, public transmission, exhibition, distribution, rental and the right to produce derivative works. The court denied those claims.

“Cupid,” released in February 2023, became a global sensation on social media and peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for 25 weeks.

Though Swedish songwriters originally composed the track, The Givers purchased the full economic rights from the creators and registered the copyright in March 2023 with the Korea Music Copyright Association.

Attrakt argued that its outsourcing agreement with The Givers included instructions to secure the rights on the agency’s behalf. The company also claimed the Swedish composers believed they were transferring the rights to Attrakt, not The Givers.

Attrakt filed a lawsuit demanding official recognition of its copyright ownership and an order that The Givers cancel its registration. But the court ruled that the copyright assignment contract explicitly identified The Givers as the contracting party and found no evidence that the outsourcing arrangement required the company to act on Attrakt’s behalf.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]