TL;DR - Intellectual Property and Ripping Shit Off in Korea

[@pkgaming2962]

Sometimes when I watch Korean variety or reality shows, I sometimes hear random sound effects and music from a bunch of different video games like Mario, Kirby, Sonic, Pikmin. And I just think to myself, "I seriously doubt these gaming companies gave you permission to use their music."

[@FabledIndiaGame]

+PK Gaming yeah they are all stolen, big example RunningMan. It'd be a nice experiment messing with them.

[@gukpong7531]

Koreans believe they can copy culture and technology from China and Japan freely.

[@FabledIndiaGame]

they copy from everywhere, its ironic how much their culture is influenced by america, yet they are freely able to copy lyrics, music, dance and stories.

[@grace-lu5tu]

There are literally so many American songs in variety shows

[@BeccaMoses]

Apparently every hair salon in India uses the same picture of Selena Gomez.

[@MD-eb3tc]

+Becca Moses A lot...yeah...

[@rimmon12345]

+Becca Moses THIS!! hahaha omfg and I've seen Jessica Alba a bunch of times too on henna boxes

[@isee23demons]

ive even seen jaejoong

[@meghanagk2578]

I've seen zayn malik in a lot of hair saloons 😂😂

[@eatyourkimchi]

This isn't about "oh we weren't paid for our footage." Other major networks use our videos without paying us, but they spoke with us beforehand and handled themselves professionally. In this case, we just didn't want to be part of this program. We told them we didn't want to be part of this program, and then they took our footage and made us part of their program regardless. That's what we're upset about.

[@AftrskewlXprmnt]

Chicago Fucks???? That is the best hat ever, I died laughing XD

[@bassmama]

i think one reason for this phenomena is that there is not much of a suing culture in Korea compared to US. If this stuff happened in US, everyone would sue the offenders and get the right reimbursement. But in Korea, many people are just like whatever. But overall, i definitely agree with you guys because i had a similar experience when I worked in Korea for a short period of time. My bosses didn't really care about being strictly ethical in their business practices (although they are nice people). Change needs to happen.

[@haraldeigerson8079]

A law is only as relevant as it's enforcement.

[@TheCurlygirly14]

I saw a similar thing when I visited Santorini (a small Greek island in the Mediterranean Sea in Europe) last year. I was shopping with my family in Thera and suddenly saw a big sign that had one of BIGBANG's logos on it outside a shop. As a VIP, I got really excited and hoped it was a BIGBANG shop, but it was just a clothes shop and the workers had no idea who BIGBANG was. It was a disappointment, but also shows how violating copyrights occurs all over the world and not just in Korea.

[@eatyourkimchi]

I thought we explained pretty clearly why we didn't want to take part in that program. Watch our video again, and take a look at our blog post, if you want to know why.

[@Jelleybean18]

I know these are old but I still enjoy watching them

[@uptownflavor]

Martina you look so pretty in this video.

[@deathlymacabre9684]

Martina looks pretty in every video.

[@jimmynuarin15]

Are you talking about Korean Broadcasting System (KBS2) ? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[@deafheart23]

Lol, it's like that scene out of Kamikaze Girls when Momoko's father was making and selling bootleg versace merch while working for the Yakuza!

[@itspengusan]

I remember when I was watching a Wonder Boyz MV, they used the Warner Bros logo at the end. I was like wuuuuut.

[@eatyourkimchi]

KZbin (not us) refreshes and recounts people's votes/views so sometimes the top comments stay up top (if it keeps getting votes, but it might be down voted) and then they're replaced with other top comments!

[@IsabelleQuach]

Yeah, I had 'Fashion' as a course during college and my teacher said there were many rip offs like that. But they cannot be sued unless they put the exact, like EXACT SAME logo as the original one. For example, the northface had 3 lines but the rip off you showed ''black face'' only had two, so technically they're not the same? But they are, and we know that haha but yeah. They should enforce those copyright infringements

[@IsabelleQuach]

yeah most probably

[@ttru]

What about SHINee's song "Juliette"? Did they have permission to change the lyrics of Corbin Bleu's song "Deal With It"?

[@jampark92]

didn't you sue the TV program ?? because you're youtube partners and you legitimately make your own videos all made by yourselves

[@kakuchannel6923]

If it is that easy to sue and win, there wouldn't be any copy products on the street of Korea. There has been many companies that sued Korean companies in the past in the violation of their intellectual properties, but most of them weren't successful (say try google Starbucks vs Starpreya coffee). Their legal system regarding intellectual property is very loose, different and doesn't work like the western system do, sadly, and they tend to favor own country men as well. I think it is bad for us and also for Korea. They can never be a mature nation like this.

[@abimanyancat]

I know this kind of videos doesn't attract a lot of viewers, but really, it was really informative and helpful one! I didn't know there were "shit ripped off" until you guys actually said it. Wish you could do more TLDRs like these. :)

[@TheDenise530]

What tv program used their videos?

[@PinguPhD]

TheDenise530 From all the hints, on the broadcasting channel that broadcasts throughout the world and Korea, my guess is KBS. Not sure though

[@BiehahNabihah]

TempestHomicidal or SBS but yeah maybe either one.

[@PinguPhD]

It WAS KBS. Look it up

[@winwinwinter]

I actually find your comments to be very insightful and I agree with what you say! It's definitely not something a troll would even manage to think of. It's always good to see more perspectives to something in order to clear confusion and misjudgments. I agree that information this important and controversial needs to be explained with more respect and consideration.

[@jaiyapapaya]

Why black face? Why not south face? COME ON, *BLACK* FACE

[@galaxy_kitten95]

Jaiya Papaya Its even more insulting knowing that Korea has a history with commiting blackface on a daily basis as a joke. 😒😒😒

[@BluSkyeLine]

Martina and Simon always rock cool hairstyles, in my opinion, but I really like the cluster of rose clips in Martina's hair in this video especially. So cute and it works so well with her hat. ^-^

[@SuperBettyxoxo]

The only one who could get away with it here was Prince. He put a picture of Dave Chappelle dressed as him on his album. Dave was like that was a prince judo move. He said what was I gonna do? Sue him for using me dressed up like him? lol

[@INFINITEmyungsoo]

Did I ever say your comments are all pure gold? Applaud, again. And thank you.

[@ViSnoffy]

I actually witnessed this with your stuff as well, on one of my favorite apps Wish which is a online shopping app with stuff on really high discounts and I saw the Eat Your Kimchi cat ear boiler hat and I have never seen that any where but from Eat a Your Kimchi! So yeah I see what you guys are talking about now.

[@ViSnoffy]

Bowler*

[@pinkwonderpower]

"Come out me bro - I ain't scured" HA HA HA LOL

[@laurabii99]

I decided to come back to this after randomly hearing the Doctor Who theme song. During This Is Infinite.

[@eswesje]

Where can I find that?

[@winwinwinter]

I hate how so many people are blindly accusing you as a troll. I understand what you're trying to convey and I agree! These informational videos are what people come to watch to be informed but when it's displayed in a certain perspective, it influences a lot of people's viewpoint. It's almost funny when people talk about things they do not understand

[@Phenix19]

To be fair, there was a university here in the US (I forget which) that had a picture of Girls' Generation's Yoona on their brochure, like she was a student there, but nothing saying who she was, and I'm pretty sure that she wasn't paid for it

[@youluvana]

maybe the university didn't know who she was and intended to use a picture of a random model bought from a stock photography company. maybe you just assumed the people in the add had to be students there.

[@rianmilit]

I'm so happy you guys aren't taking that person's opinion to heart, so many trolls feed on negative emotions and I'm glad you guys aren't getting upset anymore! :)

[@Mookneepie]

How do Koreans react to other ethnic groups, other than Caucasians? I'm curious, because of the "Black Face" company. And I've seen a few videos where Koreans attempt the "Black Face" concept and it makes me cringe. I'm Mixed, so I'm very curious...

[@INFINITEmyungsoo]

Applaud. All of your comments here are all pure gold. Thank you.

[@sarax.o5216]

Guy, K-pop sock black market is no joke...

[@wanneurz]

copyright infringement has always been a huge problem in asia. It raises a lot of hackles though. thanks for pointing it out simon and martina, I found this tl;dr interesting!

[@NatWarrior1]

Wait you got a Chicago fucks hat? Holy shit I want that because I live in Chicago. I'm gonna walk around with it and be like wow so much sweg 11/10

[@eatyourkimchi]

I have a gazillion from when I first started buying them 5 years ago, but Myeongdong is really becoming the only place I could 100% guarantee people to find them, even if they aren't as up-to-date. Other than that it's getting so random and hard to find!!! *SOBS*

[@mashmato]

If I saw a poster of myself on a cafe or somewhere I would freak out! ...And then take a picture of myself next to it... :p

[@slycordinator]

There's a brand of undergarmets called James Dean, a regular clothing brand called Chris Christie, a golf clothes company named Arnold Palmer, and in downtown Pohang there's a bar called Russell Crow (like he's a bird) that also says "Beer and Freedom."

[@applesnbananas3]

Samsung to Apple: "Come at me bro! I ain't skehrrd!"

[@DarkbloomTV]

In Poland people on the news sometimes use a few seconds of videos from KZbin but it says on the screen where it's from.

[@ciasa129]

So I have a question. Simon and Martina use clips of kpop songs at the beginning of their Kpop Music Mondays. So my question for Simon and Martina (or anyone else who could possibly answer), how do you get permission to use clips of those songs?

[@Sanbparedes]

Copyright laws are very complicated. If you notice, most of their clips don't exceed 10 seconds, they don't say that the clip is theirs and they aren't distorting the images on the videos, so make it themselves, if not their videos get taken down.

[@Krysten1785]

I dont know Korean laws but for example in the US, we have something called the Fair Use Act. It allows people to use clips of videos and songs and comment on them/review them without contacting the producers.

[@PinguPhD]

ciasa129 That sort of thing usually lies under fair use laws. And as KZbin is an American company, for the most part they follow American copy-right laws, As the clips are being used in a parody/educational manner, they are fair use. The companies who control the groups whose videos they use can flag for copyright issues, but for the most part that shouldn't be an issue. They also have close relationships with several groups/companies in Korea, and the companies may very well have given them permission as well.

[@Malakaiea]

Also it isn't like they don't give them credit they link their videos and such

[@bijouvita]

Thanks for posting this, Afiza. They need subtitles for that section on food and the after comments. If the TV show got permission and acknowledged EYK properly, then EYK would have acknowledged the TV program also. Viewership would have increased on either side. It's called professional courtesy. At the very least these shows are suppose to state their sources in the credits.

[@hanamoto7473]

I was embarrassed a bit and felt shamed as Korean. So I made my mind to write down my thoughts about this issue, even though my english sucks. first of all, I have to admit that what they are saying is true. But I want you guys understand that the copyright don't come to your mind as natural laws. I mean things like theft, murder, assultting are perfectly crime in anybody's mind, but copyrights are not necessarily. I believe that no one, even ones in western, didn't pay any money long time ago, for making certain types of chairs, tables to one who first invented. I believe it's short time of history that paying some money to inventors, artists for coping their ideas. So it needs highly developed civilization and economy. But Korea just got out of its military dictatorship 2, 3 decades ago and back in 50's we are one of the the most poor countries in the world. we are in the middle of changing. we are just starting to understand that protecting copyrights lead to encouraging people to invent things and innovate. Koreans are very honest, decent, hard working people. They even try to follow stupid laws which doesn't make any sense.

[@yeril12]

+kazemuno mi As an American I see where you are coming from to a point but i think it is common sense that taking someones logo especially a big company or famous person is wrong. It's the fact that if they created something would they want people to just steal it and be like "we didn't know or think it was wrong".

[@JazzBlack]

Martina, I love your nails!! Can't you make a video about the cute korean nail designs?:)

[@leethal59]

welcome to asia

[@FayRyzval]

Yeah, I always wondered about the vast variety of american songs on any kind of korean TV shows. It kinds of make me feel uncomfortable, I guess over here it's such a big deal that we notice those kinds of things much more.

[@ernokoivistoinen]

you should've sued the tv company. i dont know if you did tho

[@ernokoivistoinen]

or demanded them to use your logo and webaddres

[@doremeduck]

Martina! You should do a makeup tutorial on your makeup in this video, please!? It's soooo pretty!

[@liliebilie]

No kpop socks : (

[@galaxy_kitten95]

I know this is late, but you can find some on ebay.

[@kea8349]

I don't know about other countries, but in terms of music, I was under the impression that if it's kept to under certain seconds (e.g. 30 secs) then the artist/producer/etc don't get royalties because it's very short. Alex and Horan of Clazziquai said this on either Yoo In Na or Sung Si Kyung's radio show a while back.

[@SirenSongstress1]

In one of your older 4 Minute reviews, Martina mentioned that she used to go to a dance hogwon and learned some of 4 Minute's older dances. Are these kinds of hogwons common, and are there other "specialty" hogwons where you can learn unique things? The only kind of hogwons I've ever head of are the studying kind that school kids go to.

[@heatherd2341]

When I'm texting I always go over and check that I'm using the proper grammar. Sure it may take longer to reply, but at least what I type will make sense. Also, these videos are actually extremely helpful. Especially if people want to go to Korea, start uploading videos, etc. Sure they may not be 100% accurate, but at least they're giving people an idea of what to expect.

[@EmmaFAULT]

Do many people come and knock on your studio door. Or is there like a gate you have to buzz them in first?

[@a_dontigny]

People also need to know that "copyright", "intellectual property" and "trademark" are different legal concepts, and the rules governing them vary, in addition to international conventions and trade agreements that might be applicable in your country. This is why licensing fees as well as the royalties collected for the use of copyrighted material vary from country to country. Same for "fair use" (for news, criticism or parody purposes): trade or censoship laws in your country could overrule.

[@eatyourkimchi]

It's our video segment about food in Korea called: FOOD ADVENTURE PROGRAM FOR AWESOME PEOPLEEEE!!! :D

[@kevingineman3745]

I know downloading music is illegal, but some guys still do that right? Same as Korea, some guy download it and some guy buy it. However, since the regulation been strong, it became real hard to find those music online. If there's any mp3 file contained in zip file, it is unable to download.

[@shizuma2007]

when you say you hear like 10 songs during a show or something, is that a full song that is being played or clips that are under 45 seconds? people can use sound clips from songs without rights as long as they are under 45 seconds.

[@kyl6864]

Thank you. It's sad that they don't see that. What a leap of poor judgment.

[@anotherperson7]

Can you talk about going to the doctor/hospital and treatment fees? I know as a Canadian there's universal health care, is that the same for Korea?

[@firstlovelatespring]

I'm from Indonesia and most shows when they talk about people's videos and they show it they have told the audience it's courtesy from blah blah so it's good but we do still copyright stuff like bags,CDs,logos and much more stuff

[@sylvaay]

I AGREE! In the cheaper areas like Skegness, which is sort of like a holiday resort place here in the UK, I find it's the best way to spend money because everything there is so fake and cheap, there are so many cons it's unreal, but everyone buys it. I don't really care about brands and copyright or anything, so, I have no problem with it; it's not my business. But in this video Simon and Martina are just explaining what it's like in Korea, I'm pretty sure they know that every country has...

[@Light_VIP]

i feel like they are talking in depth and are more serious about it because it affects them, the average person doesn't really care about logos being stolen and used by other companies, but now that EYK is a bigger brand S&M are affected by it more and they themselves need to be more careful, especially since youtube has an international audience

[@ciasa129]

In an episode of a Korean drama (forgot the name) I was watching I remember an episode where in it some business owner took a model's pictures that she shot for a different company and used them for his own. In the drama this was a HUGE deal and people were freaking out. Now I know it's a drama therefore not a super accurate portrayal of life in Korea, so don't flip. I see copyright going back and forth a lot. Sometimes people care, sometimes they don't. This is just my observation from a drama.

[@exploratoryoratory]

Martina I love your style. I think you might be one of my new style icons.

[@ligerwolf]

What about that big banner that had pictures of Simon and Martina. I can't remember which video it was in. But I remember Martina choosing it in their WANK. and her saying she didn't approve of them using it. I wonder if they did anything about it?

[@bubba94290]

I actually own some of those socks because it came free from albums that I bought, I think now they are getting desperate to get rid if them, my first thought when I got them were "they didnt get the rights to these.." Shows how strict copyright laws are even here in the US

[@queenvictoriagames]

I'm a daughter and niece of doctors. They had to do procedures while in Med School so that once they are out of Med School they can do it. First 4 years is classes and the last 4 years they are studying and practicing their specialty. I'm pretty sure they have to know what they are doing. Can you make videos about your opinions about the US? I want to see what you have experienced. Sure I may not agree about it, like you don't agree with EYK, but I want to see what you have to say.

[@peacegossip99]

What is it like buying a house/apartment in Korea? What are to costs and whAt is the process you have to go through in order to purchase one?

[@JuicyStrawberry008]

the same thing happens in The Bahamas. It makes me chuckle when I pass a hair salon, clothing store, sports bar, or club party promotional sign and see these celebrities on the cover. And I'm like only if they knew their photo was being used without their permission

[@ShesAaRebel]

In Canada the copyright laws with showing KZbin vides on the news don't really exist. This is because they are considered public information. So they can use your videos with no permission. Most of the time they will include a link at the bottom of the screen though or say it's from KZbin.

[@JustValeryHope]

Okay, so this is totally unrelated, but I just have to say; Martina's hair & makeup look absolutely stunning! ^^

[@kevingineman3745]

seoul is not big city, but there's lots of ppl live around the city. there's about 10 big university-own hospital and thousands of clinics, such as dental clinic, ear and nose clinic, female clinic and acupunture clinic.

[@realmnthrwknives]

I will admit that there is some question towards the "B2ST" (Although like they explained in the video people make kpop socks, banners, etc and it doesn't seem to be ANY problem) shirts but the Taemin Taeman one is just a name. So I don't see where that could cause any problems compared to someone taking the nike sign or the samsung sign and creating knock-off products. It would be a huge difference it they were producing SHINee shirts or a picture of Taemin with his face plastered on it.

[@GiveMeFreeFood]

I've been wondering about copyright in korea for a while. Its unreal. In running man they were playing bits of the potc soundtrack when the 3rd or 4th film came out and theres no way they could have afforded it. Disney make a point of charging people the most ridiculous sums possible for any little thing. They also sue with all theyve got so lets hope they dont go looking. I'd like to see you correcting these thieves for using your stuff and I'd like to hear more about the action your taking

[@Square3hree]

Hi Simon and Martina, regarding this topic, what do you think about Primary's "I got C" copying Caro Emerald's "Liquid Lunch"?

[@peko7446]

From what I read online, SK one of the best places to get quality (imo an oxymoron) fake bags and apparels that even the Chinese tourists buy them there.

[@peko7446]

***** I'm not endorsing buying them. I'm just relaying what I've read about the topic. I've only bought one pleather bag long time ago and for the amount of money I paid, $120+ usd, it only lasted a year before it started to peel. I prefer real cow or lambskin leather because if you take good care of them, they last a long time.

[@Chibihugs]

They cover or blur those logos so they don't have to pay royalties to the big companies. They have set sponsors for the shows, so any company is not used as a sponsor is covered.

[@Nabiki73]

I have some theories on this topic: first, I think that copyright infringement has reduced in frequency over the past few decades in South Korea, and that it's related to their economic development. Basically: as South Korea became more industrialized, their culture developed as people had more free time and more money with which to spend that time. This along with SK's Korean content laws fostered a development of filmmaking and music that enabled SK artists to become more popular within their own country when competing with foreign (re: mostly American) films, TV shows, and music. Thus, as they became more original with their work, they got a better understanding of the notion of having their creations being stolen (eg: "Oldboy" being blatantly copied without permission in India as the film "Zinda" then later being remade with permission in Hollywood). Basically, South Korea is making its own cultural content and thus relying less and less on having to copy that of other cultures and subsequently being more sensitive to the issue of copyright infringement. They still have a ways to go before they become as free of infringement as North America, and it also seems like they don't have a full understanding of the concept of "Fair Use laws" yet. Second: as a nation, South Korea is still working at becoming more free with respecting foreign cultural works, as their legal code still protects Korean-made works from competition from said foreign works. The fact that Korean cultural works are increasing in quality and thus influence on that of other nations (best examples are the Korean Wave that swept through Asia and the fact that Hollywood studios are remaking Korean films) is helping to convince them that they do not need to protect themselves against foreign content as they did in the past. The less they do this, the more respect they will learn to give to foreign works in terms of not freely ripping them off without consideration.

[@larissaturner4047]

Hi Simon and Martina! I'm doing an assignment for my English class which requires us to write a Biography on someone that inspires us! I choose the both of you, but when I looked more in to the assignment we needed a reference that wasn't a website (eg a book/magazine), so I was wondering if you have featured in any Magazine articles in Korea, if you have please reply so I can order the magazine! Thankyou both so much ^^ xx

[@HellraizerKaizerin]

I was really surprised by what I saw when I went to Koreatown in Tokyo. Went to this shop called Gangnam Style for example. This and many other shops sold piles of K-pop merch that was only pictures of artists thrown on whatever pens and mugs and not official at all. What shocked me most though, was seeing walls of obviously illegal burnt music CDs sold alongside perfectly complete and official K-pop music albums in the same shops. (Even though this was technically not in Korea but in Japan.)

[@YukiBanTaichou]

I SAW THAT! Totally thought it was an interview with you guys.

[@Designby12Test]

I get a little excited when the screen smushes over at the end of the video, lol.

[@Theawsomness110]

Anyone know if intellectual property is enforced in schools, like for projects and shit

[@eatyourkimchi]

+Pinkamena Diane Pie In a way, it is. We tried to photocopy a magazine we were in, that had our actual pictures, and the shops wouldn't let us do so because they said we don't own the copyright...

[@Ardylynn]

+Pinkamena Diane Pie i believe that in most countries it is usually ok for use in education, as long as you wont gain any money from using it. its the same as with news programs they can ignore copyright as long as it's source is shown.

[@XXlrayss]

What's it like in a Korean movie theater? Is it similar to the ones in America? Is there anything different if so please make a video about it, I've always wondered if they are either similar or different!!

[@td02fe]

One of my favorite SBS shows Running Man is always playing music from American artist. Certain songs have even become the theme songs for certain characters.

[@zl13hallyuforever9]

From that Great Transformation Korea Wave thing? Is that why they deleted the video from their channel?? o.O Sorry if I seem pushy. I'm just really curious cuz I didn't get to watch it...

[@lolhiho1]

i love the "come at me bro copyright ? " pic where did you find it ? :D

[@KwangHoTv]

Is there any culture Clashes between Different cities in Korea Like Seoul vs Busan? Kinda like in New Yorkers vs Los Angeles?

[@jockolong]

yeah i think i know what tv program you're referring to.. is it "Arirang"?

[@michinnunapaen]

how does it work with you showing clips of kpop mvs in your kpop music mondays? also, it seems like ppl only care when they want to claim songs have been plagarized..not really sure when they're true since often times the claims come from unknown groups against more popular artists.

[@kfox2222]

Why would someone be thankful if they were poor AND stolen from? It's not about being a newbie vs. being "famous", and no one should be "grateful" for having their work taken and used without credit being given.

[@jessiedominguez5695]

I'm really interested in going to South Korea but I'm really picky with food where would you go to eat?

[@CarlGorn]

Here's the thing: I'm pretty sure that Korean advertising laws REQUIRED the network to cover up your logo, the same way they have to cover up/blur the emblems & names of products/places that aren't sponsors of a given program.

[@KupoKaachan]

MARTINA! Where did you buy your gorgeous top?

[@dragonfly5665q]

ONCE AGAIN AM NOT HATING !! i am just stating the obvious and I really appreciate the efforts and passion S&M are putting in their videos.

[@Funnifal]

What about downloading music in Korea? I know here in America, it's illegal to download music for free, but everyone does it anyways.. Are they tougher about that kind of stuff in Korea?

[@gore4651]

I actually studied this in class. :D and honestly if a company's intellectual property gets stolen specifically logos, they won't sue unless the culprits are big competition. Or unless it's well known. China has many copyrights and infringement cases bc their gov and laws aren't completely stable. But they are working on it. Now skorea might be different but since they are an up and coming country, they just might not have the proper laws in place. It will take time.

[@QuinneyBoyz]

Any chance you guys can talk about the other forms of music in Korea and what people think of them? I really love k hip hop and with all the stuff going on right now with it I can't help but wonder if this is like a big thing over there or if the general public just kind of ignores it.

[@StrangerSphinx]

That's what I thought about songs being used in Korean Variety shows. Like Running Man for example, I'm actually quite surprised that they are able to use OSTs from Video Games like Metal Gear Solid and God Of War but they have to censor almost every logos that appeared in Running Man.

[@taramisssu]

UM, makeup tutorial on your eye makeup please!!!