Stray Kids Label Sues Distributor Over Alleged Upload of Han Song
JYP Entertainment, the label behind K-pop group Stray Kids, is suing the distributor OneSync Music over a recording that it says was put on streaming services without permission. The complaint was filed on Wednesday, 4 November, and was first reported by Billboard.
The recording is "back to life," a solo track by Stray Kids member Han. Han took part in writing and composing the song, according to allkpop. JYP first released it in May as a prerelease music video on YouTube, and the full track came out in June.
Days after that video appeared, a version of the song showed up on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube under the artist name "yungzzz." JYP says that copy had its original copyright management data removed. That data is the information stored inside a file that names who owns the recording and who made it.
JYP traced the upload through YouTube metadata, the background details attached to a video. Those details pointed to Hitmaker Music Group, an independent distributor that works with Warner's Atlantic Records and 10K Projects. Hitmaker is not accused of any wrongdoing. Its lawyers identified Miles Gaines as the owner of the "yungzzz" distribution account.
Gaines is a Los Angeles-based rapper and the founder of OneSync, a DIY distributor that launched this year. A DIY distributor is a service that lets musicians put their own songs on streaming platforms without a record label. JYP is seeking financial damages from Gaines and OneSync for copyright infringement. It also alleges violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a US law, because the copy allegedly had its authorship watermarks removed.
Gaines told Billboard that a third party submitted the recording to OneSync. He said he was unaware of the upload and that the recording has since been taken down.
The case has a earlier chapter. In October, JYP asked a US court to identify the distributor behind the upload, according to allkpop.
For listeners, the question is simple: who uploaded the song, and under whose name. For distributors, the case shows how much depends on the details attached to each file. Those details are what let a rights holder spot a copy in the first place, and what a platform relies on when a track is reported.
