Plagiarism Accusations Continue To Plague Roy Kim Over ‘Bom Bom Bom’: Did He Steal Acoustic Rain’s ‘Love Is Cannon’?

Accusations of plagiarism have once again raised their ugly head for singer-songwriter Roy Kim regarding his chart topping single "Bom Bom Bom."
Accusations of plagiarism have once again raised their ugly head for singer-songwriter Roy Kim regarding his chart topping single “Bom Bom Bom” (or “Spring Spring Spring”).
Although “Bom Bom Bom” was already criticized for being too close to Kim Kwang Suk’s “Where The Wind Blows” and A-ha’s “Take On Me” back in April, the similarity between the Roy Kim single and the ukulele version of Acoustic Rain’s “Love is Canon,” particularly in the intro of the latter song, is undeniably stronger.
An online poll conducted by the website Allkpop found that 64 percent of those surveyed believe Roy Kim plagiarized Acoustic Rain’s “Love is Canon,” a striking change from the A-ha and Kim Kwang Suk accusations, widely dismissed by fans and many media outlets alike.
Yet a representative for Roy’s record label CJ E&M Music told a reporter for the Seoul Broadcasting System that it is the “Superstar K4″ winner who is the one being plagiarized.
“After officially confirming with the Korea Copyright Commission, the ukulele version of ‘Love Is Canon’ was revealed to have been registered on May 15, 2013, after Roy Kim’s “Spring Spring Spring’s” (“Bom Bom Bom”) release on April 22, 2013,” the record label rep said.
“Thus, Roy Kim’s “Spring Spring Spring” does not have anything to do with that version.”
The original version of Acoustic Rain’s “Love is Cannon,” registered with the copyright commission on March 2012 according to the news agency Nate, has no major similarities to “Bom Bom Bom,” the label representative claims.
“Experts have examined the parts that are said to match between the original version [of 'Love is Canon'] registered in March 2012 and ['Bom Bom Bom'] and decided that there is no plagiarism,” the rep said.
The CJ E&M Music label executives claim any similarity between the two songs is completely coincidental.
“This is an original song that was co-composed by Roy Kim and Bae Young Kyung, and arranged by Jung Ji Chan and Kim Sung Yoon,” the rep said.
“All of the composers and arrangers that participated in this song have never listened to Acoustic Rain’s ‘Love Is Canon’. Prior to the controversy, we never knew about the singer’s name and song. If we did, we would’ve checked first.”
On Saturday, responding to criticism that he plagiarized a different song from the indie group Busker Busker, for his original “Anthem,” Roy launched into a sarcastic tirade onstage at a performance, according to eNEWS.
“I wrote this song after being inspired by a video of Busker Busker’s Jang Bum June singing at a wedding,” Roy said.
“Some members of the public, however, criticized me for that. I took [the main part] from the ‘Wedding March,’ and that means I didn’t take it from [Jang Bum June's song]. I did write this song. If you still don’t think it’s right, I’ll mention Jang Bum June every time I sing this song.”