Viral K-pop music video "Gangnam Style" faces intellectual property issues

Seoul, South Korea (4E) – After making huge waves all over the world via the Internet, eclectic and colorful music-video-gone-viral “Gangnam Style” is now facing a string of patent claims.

According to the Korean Times, nine individuals and companies, including YG Entertainment, the singer Psy’s management agency, are battling for legal rights for the commercial use of the “Gangnam Style” name.

As of Friday, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is still deciding on the requests for the right. Petitioners include companies that come from various businesses such as restaurants, shoemaking, manufacturing, climbing gear making, software developing and office automation.

Meanwhile, YG Entertainment has its right to use the name paired with the singer’s image, just like it appears on the video, but nothing more.

Song Eui-Jin, a representative from the company told the Times, “As the song wins global attention, we try to come up with various ways to generate profit with it.”

With the song’s popularity booming every second, as evidenced by its over 130.2 million YouTube views, profit-makers are sure to gain a lot from it when patented.

The video, lauded for its humor and dance-y rhythm with techno vibe, was released on YouTube in July and has since gained widespread popularity not just in Korea but the while world, even inciting comments and raves by international artists.

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