Chapter 77: Plagiarism (2)
"Uncle Music."
"Uncle Music?"
"Yes. Those guys who came to meet Seon-Woo before us."
But I couldn't understand how they managed to register the copyrights before us. Although Uncle Music had a meeting with Bang Seon-Woo before us, Bang Seon-Woo said he hadn't shown them any songs other than the two already posted on the amateur composer's website.
"Did you check with Seon-Woo about what happened?"
Lee Dong-Min scratched his head with a troubled look. "I only asked Seon-Woo briefly about it because I was worried it might affect his mental state, especially since he's in the middle of working on the song. But he did tell me nothing much happened other than just a brief chat in the room with the people from Uncle Music."
That was when Kwak Moo-Hyuk stepped in.
"This is not my area of expertise, but I suspect they might have done something like hacking into his account within a very short time. So we took Seon-Woo's MePad and requested an analysis."
He explained that if we can prove the exact date the songs were created, it would be advantageous in court.
"Oh, I see...."
At that moment, Kwak Moo-Hyuk's face lit up as he checked the message on his phone.
"Wait a minute. The information request about Uncle Music just came in."
Ding! Ding!
Kwak Moo-Hyuk sent the information he received to everyone's KkTalk. But the moment Lee Dong-Min and Kang Ji-Yung saw the representative's face in the file, they exclaimed simultaneously.
"What? It was this bastard?"
"Do you know this person?" Kwak Moo-Hyuk asked.
Lee Dong-Min frowned and opened his mouth. "Don't you remember Choi Hyun-Oh? You know the guy who fell after a plagiarism case. He used to be a vocalist in the Hongdae indie band called ‘Bloody Mary.’"
Choi Hyun-Oh was quite a popular vocalist and guitarist during his Hongdae indie band days. He gained popularity by copying a song from an unknown Argentine band, ‘EL SANDRO,’ but the scandal broke when a Korean fan informed the original creator on Instargem. It became an international plagiarism case covered not only in Korea but also in foreign news.
Kang Ji-Yung calmed the fuming Lee Dong-Min. "Mr. Lee, please calm down for now."
Lee Dong-Min took a deep breath to steady himself. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright. But this guy, Choi Hyun-Oh...how about you meet up with him and try to convince him? Once the analysis results we requested come in, we'll have to go to court. So let's avoid any trouble as much as possible."
Kang Ji-Yung's words were loaded with various meanings.
Lee Dong-Min nodded. "Sure. I'll go see him right now."
As Kang Ji-Yung gave her directions, I quickly raised my hand. "Um, can I come along?"
"You want to go with him?"
Although Uncle Music was unfamiliar to me, I knew Choi Hyun-Oh from my past life. He would later become a founder of a record company called ‘Gangnam Brothers’ and mess with the copyrights of other composers like what he was doing with Bang Seon-Woo now.
As Lee Dong-Min and I stood up, Kang Ji-Yung added one last thing. "And both of you, please keep quiet about Chief Park Han-Cheol hiding this incident."
Park Han-Cheol of Singer Division 1 still hadn't reported to the company that Bang Seon-Woo's song was a subject of plagiarism. Kang Ji-Yung’s eyes flashed as she declared to hold him accountable.
"Understood."
"Of course, Ms. Kang."
Just like that, Lee Dong-Min and I headed to Uncle Music to meet the copyright thug, Choi Hyun-Oh.
***
Park Han-Cheol of Singer Division 1 headed to the room of the operations director upon being summoned.
Knock knock.
"Come in."
When he opened the door and entered, he saw Kim Dong-Soo sitting on the opposite side of Lee Gi-Cheol. As soon as he sat on the sofa, Kim Dong-Soo praised Park Han-Cheol.
"Hehe. Mr. Park. You’ve really done a big job this time, haven’t you?"
"Oh, it’s nothing. I just had some connections at the copyright association and things worked out well."
Park Han-Cheol had schemed to screw over the Singer Division 2 for quite a while. He had asked Director Jang Myung-Soo of the copyright association if there was anything in Bang Seon-Woo's songs that could be caught for plagiarism just in case.
But what happened next was unexpected. Running the comparison program revealed a plethora of songs with melodies identical to already existing ones.
"Haha. So, what’s happening with it now?"
"After the committee's review is over, we'll receive an official notice of plagiarism within a week. Then, I plan to feed it to the reporters to blow it up."
Lee Gi-Cheol nodded with a satisfied expression. "Is there a way to fully utilize this opportunity to ruin Cherry Blossom?"
Then, Kim Dong-Soo suddenly intervened. "How about we cover up the plagiarism case for the time being and blow it up timed with their comeback?"
Park Han-Cheol also brightened up and agreed. "That’s a great idea!"
Lee Gi-Cheol grinned wickedly. "Tell the copyright committee we'll handle the issue ourselves and drag this on. Then, when Cherry Blossom is about to make a comeback, tell them it didn't work out and we need their help. That way, Director Lee won’t be able to do anything about it. Right?"
Park Han-Cheol praised Lee Gi-Cheol enthusiastically. “Mr. Lee, your foresight is unparalleled!"
"Haha. Stop overreacting. I’m in a good mood today. How about we all go have a drink and chat?"
"I know just the place. I’ll treat you properly tonight!"
Unaware that Kang Ji-Yung already knew everything, the Seoul National University of the Arts alumni headed straight to a room salon in Gangnam and turned off their phones to party all night.
***
President Choi Hyun-Oh was on the phone in the office of Uncle Music located in Sinsa-dong.
"Damn it. Why doesn’t this bastard ever answer his phone?"
After several attempts, the other side finally answered.
"Hey~ Epil. How have you been?"
-Why the sudden call? Got any good stuff?
The person on the other end was the famous composer, Epil K.
Choi Hyun-Oh inwardly cursed at Epil K's casual speech despite being younger, yet he had no choice but to suppress his anger. As annoying as he was, Epil K was an important client.
"Of course. You know I only call when I have something good. Who else would I think of first other than you when I got good news?"
-Hmph. Cut the crap and just get to the point. How much this time?
"20 million won per song."
-W-what? Not 2 million, but 20 million won? I’m hanging up!
Their usual deals averaged around 3 million won per song. Hearing a price several times higher, Epil K was about to hang up.
"W-wait, just listen to me and you’ll change your mind. It’s a really good song this time."
Epil K hesitated before hanging up. Choi Hyun-Oh was known for his terrible compositions, yet his keen ability to identify excellent music was unparalleled.
Choi Hyun-Oh quickly played the first 30 seconds of a melody.
Click.
-...Do you have just this one song?
"No. I have a total of 20 songs and it belongs to one composer. It’s a package deal, but I’ll give you a special 10% discount if you buy them all. What do you say? Are you interested?"
For Epil K, Korea’s top idol composer earning billions of won annually, the price was steep but not impossible. However, Epil K was notoriously cheap.
-I’ll get back to you by tomorrow.
Choi Hyun-Oh shook his fist in the air triumphantly while grumbling about the little brat in his mind. However, the actual words that came out of his mouth were full of laughter.
"Tick tock, tick tock. The discount ends at midnight tomorrow, Mr. Customer. There are no exceptions. It will be 20 million won per song, okay?"
-...You bloodsucking leech.
Choi Hyun-Oh chuckled after hanging up the call. Even if he was a leech, becoming the king of leeches meant he was winning.
"Hehehe. Always a pleasure doing business with you."
Epil K didn’t respond and just hung up.
Click.
"Kim Pil-Seok, this bastard....he is always so rude. I'm several years older than him but how dare he talk down to me? Epil K? Hah, my ass. Everyone knows his real name is Kim Pil-Seok! Hey, Hyung-Jun, get me another yogurt from the fridge."
Hyung-Jun, a huge man, was eating black bean noodles beside Choi Hyun-Oh. He scratched his head saying, "There’s no more yogurt left in the fridge, hyung."
Choi Hyun-Oh scowled and rummaged through his pockets. Then, he crumpled up a bill and threw it at Hyung-Jun with an irritated expression.
"Did all the convenience stores collapse or what, you brat?"
Hyung-Jun picked up the bill from the floor and left the room with a deep bow.
***
Screech.
I could see the sign of Uncle Music on the second floor of a side street at Gangnam Station Exit 4. With words like 'Record Production, Music Distribution, and Singer Discovery,' the shabby sign looked more like a loan shark's advertisement.
Lee Dong-Min looked up and sighed. "How distasteful. Be careful, Yoon-Ho. This man is no different from a thug."
"Yes, Mr. Lee."
Following Lee Dong-Min, I headed to Uncle Music. When we opened the door, there were three men playing cards on top of a military blanket.
Slap!
"I’m going for double!"
All three men had cigarettes in their mouths and the small office smelled like a raccoon's den.
Choi Hyun-Oh's eyes widened as they met with Lee Dong-Min’s. "Huh? Isn’t that Director Lee from Hoop Entertainment?"
"Tsk. How pathetic."
Choi Hyun-Oh glared and shot back at the sound of Lee Dong-Min clicking his tongue, "What are you doing here?"
"What do you think?"
Lee Dong-Min sat on a sofa and tapped his foot impatiently to Choi Hyun-Oh’s question.
"At least have the decency to put out the cigarettes when guests arrive, you brat. Damn it, and clean up a bit. You call this an office?"
Lee Dong-Min kicked the blanket on the table. Normally, he would never do such rude things. But he seemed furious at the thought of Bang Seon-Woo's songs being stolen.
"It's been a while. You seem to have become quite prickly over time, huh? Fine. Just say what you came for and leave. I have work to do."
As Choi Hyun-Oh responded while folding the blanket, Lee Dong-Min opened his mouth. "Work? Who are you planning to sell Seon-Woo's songs to?"
Choi Hyun-Oh’s expression changed. "Seon-Woo’s... songs? Ah, so that’s what brings you here today?"
Licking the black bean sauce off his lips, Choi Hyun-Oh turned to a man nearby.
"Sang-Taek, bring us something to drink. I thought he came to visit a friend, but turns out he's a guest."
"Yes, sir."
One of the card players, a sturdy man about 170 cm tall, slowly stood up.
‘Wait. His face is quite familiar...Cha Sang-Taek?'
Cha Sang-Taek was someone I had a bad history with in my past life. He was a former boxer with a gangster background who later rode the trot singer wave to become a successful record label CEO. He then tried to poach singers from Top Entertainment to break into the mainstream music industry.
But that would not happen till ten years later.
Knowing Cha Sang-Taek’s rough nature of resorting to fists when things went awry, I prepared myself for any possible situation.
Meanwhile, the argument between Lee Dong-Min and Choi Hyun-Oh was getting more intense.
"I know all about your dirty tricks. If you steal and mess around with our songs, you guys are all dead. Drop the copyright registration while I’m still being nice!"
"Us, steal your songs? Got any proof? I'm really starting to feel wronged here. Ah, the tears..."
As Choi Hyun-Oh pretended to cry, Lee Dong-Min frowned. "Don’t be ridiculous, Choi Hyun-Oh. Compared to the tears shed by those you’ve wronged, you couldn’t match them even if you drained all the water from your body."
"Ah, damn it. Director Lee, can't I make a living too? Huh?"
"Then make an honest living and earn money! Don't swindle others!"
Lee Dong-Min's anger wasn't subsiding. I didn't know what past they had between them, but nothing was going to be resolved this way.
That's when Choi Hyun-Oh sighed heavily and waved his hand as if to surrender.
"Fine. How about this? Considering our past, I'll give you a discount—20 million won per song. I gotta admit, the songs are pretty good."
"20 million won? Are you out of your mind?"
Choi Hyun-Oh smirked. "What? I'm really offering this deal out of kindness. If you don’t want the deal, there are plenty of others who would buy it."
Lee Dong-Min scoffed. "Are there really fools who would make a deal with you? They must have a strong stomach."
"Hehehe, come on. You know better than anyone how many people in this business need songs, don’t you?"
Choi Hyun-Oh was impressive in his own way. Even as Lee Dong-Min growled and taunted, he kept on smiling.
"Who are you planning to sell to?"
"Who knows? Take a guess~"
Lee Dong-Min was getting entangled in Choi Hyun-Oh’s game. This wasn't going well. It was time for me to step in.
I smirked at Choi Hyun-Oh and opened my mouth. "Epil K is a regular at Uncle Music, isn’t he? It's obviously him."
Suddenly, Choi Hyun-Oh's expression froze and the atmosphere in the office turned tense. I must have hit the mark about who Choi Hyun-Oh was making a deal with.
Lee Dong-Min noticed the change of atmosphere and suddenly stood up abruptly. "Ah, is that it? Then we should visit Epil K first. I wonder if he'd still buy the songs knowing we're preparing to sue?"
That's when it happened.
Choi Hyun-Oh shouted at Cha Sang-Taek, who was bringing drinks. "Stop them from leaving!"
Instantly, Cha Sang-Taek threw the drink tray upwards and jumped toward us without hesitation.
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