Indonesian game firm apologises for plagiarising MV, fires content supervision team

Indonesian start-up game publishing company, Three Kingdom: Hero Legendaris, has copped flak from netizens after releasing a promotional music video (MV) last week. This comes as the video seemingly plagiarises the MV of the song "LIT" by Chinese rapper Lay Zhang YiXing, who is also a member of K-pop group EXO. Since then, the game company has released an official apology on its Instagram page, acknowledging its mistake. The MV has since been taken down as well. 

"Regarding the dispute caused by the MV of Mr. Young Lex - Raja Terakhir (The Last King), who used the song, the company did not ensure that the MV materials were thoroughly checked before publishing it. It is our fault," the statement read. The game company added that it had conducted an internal review to the incident, and fired the internal team responsible for content supervision. It has also deeply apologised to Zhang and his team, the copyright owner and producer of the Zhang's LIT MV.

"After we found out about the incident, we immediately deleted the MV on all of our social media platforms, and contacted all the parties concerned to delete news or content related to this MV. We will set up a special supervision team to strengthen the review of game promotion materials and pay more attention to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future," Three Kingdom: Hero Legendaris said.

Done in collaboration with Indonesian rapper Samuel Alexander Pieter, better known as Young Lex, the game company's MV included similar elements such as a dragon, a woman with long fingernails, as well as some dance choreography. In a tweet by Zhang's fans, a user placed overlapping elements from both music videos side-by-side for comparison. Zhang's music video was released on 1 June 2020. 

https://twitter.com/XingChannel/status/1369008175291060227?s=20

The MV saw many netizens demanding the MV be taken down, with some saying it is disrespectful to plagiarise Zhang's MV. Many netizens also posted on Twitter that Lay Zhang's agency should take legal action against Young Lex as soon as possible, with the phrase "law is law, plagiarism is plagiarism".

In response to Three Kingdom: Hero Legendaris' statement on Instagram, an account by the username @officiallayzhang said: "Being in a creative field, we wish everyone can respect the commitment and effort put into creating content. We especially hope that people around the world are more conscious about plagiarising another person's work." The account, which claims to be the official news outlet for Zhang, added that it is more than happy to discuss and share Chinese style and culture. It also encouraged those interested to reach out to Chromosome Entertainment Group for help to do so. 

Separately, Young Lex has also published a clarification on his Instagram page, after being called out for plagiarising Zhang's MV. He clarified that he was only engaged as a talent and song writer for the MV, and did not participate in the creative process of producing the MV. Young Lex added that as a professional, he will still uphold his responsibilities to promote the game for the length of the agreed time period. 

Besides Three Kingdom: Hero Legendaris, the other brands Young Lex works with include car rental company BaliAgungTrans, liqueurs and spirits company Vibe Indonesia, and souvenir company My Dream Goodies. BaliAgungTrans told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that Young Lex rented a car from the company when he visited Bali last month. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Vibe Indonesia and My Dream Goodies for comment.

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