Supreme Court approves rulings against US composer in suit over 'Baby Shark'

Shark family / Courtesy of The Pinkfong Company

The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed lower courts' rulings against an American composer in a plagiarism suit he brought against the producer of the popular Korean children's song "Baby Shark" six years ago.

New York-based composer Johnny Only, whose legal name is Jonathan Wright, filed the lawsuit in Seoul in March 2019, claiming that "Baby Shark," the world-famous song released by Korean education startup SmartStudy in 2015, copied his 2011 song.

SmartStudy, now renamed The Pinkfong Company, has said its song was a recreation of a traditional North American children's song that has no valid copyrights. The rhythmic two-minute song featuring a shark family and their underwater hunt for small fish has gone viral in cyberspace and on the small screen at home and abroad.

Korea's district and appellate courts have rejected Only's claim, saying his song is not considered derivative work protected by copyright law, and the top court approved the rulings.