On Monday, October 23, SHINee’s Taemin unveiled the first set of images of his upcoming album Guilty. Soon enough netizens began to express their suspicion of plagiarism due to similarities in the packaging, merchandise, tracklist, and other appearances of the album with BTS V’s Layover. Ever since the internet has been divided about the allegations. Let’s explore the topic in detail to understand if the suspicion is factual.
Why is Taemin’s Guilty album suspected of copying BTS V Layover?
After the release of photos of the physical copies of the Guilty album and its concept photos netizens began to compare its appearance with Kim Taehyung’s Layover album. They noticed the similarities such as the receipt tracklist, package box, and concept photos. Further pointing out that both albums contain a song named Blue.
v for 'layover' album, 2023 // taemin for 'guilty' album, 2023 pic.twitter.com/NY17D5crdx
— ͏ ͏͏ ͏͏ ͏͏ ͏͏ (@vltnoir) October 18, 2023
These serious allegations have fueled the fans of both prominent K-pop groups and the conflict is urging towards the threat of a fandom war. SHAWOLs are defending Taemin stating that he is not a rookie and has created many artistic concepts that have influenced other artists in the industry.
He is reputable and has a good relationship with his contemporary artists including BTS. Additionally, they are stating that an album is created after extensive preparations and major decisions are taken by the agency, in this case, SM Entertainment. Therefore, no unnecessary hate should be directed towards Taemin.
Meanwhile, ARMYs are finding the images of the two physical albums’ similarities and sharing them side by side to explain the uncanny resemblance. While many fans understand and respect the healthy competition and relations between the two artists they are demanding an official clarification from SM Entertainment. Read some of the debates of fans below:
i think many people forget that taemin has been a successful soloist for 9 years and a member of shinee for 15 years. they’ve done pretty much everything. they are the source of inspiration, not the other way around.
— faiza 🌻 taemin guilty 🍎 10/30 (@mygucciburned98) October 24, 2023
All the Taemin concept photos remind me of stuff either he or SHINee has done in the past. For example, Odd, Want, his magazine covers, etc. It's almost like he's bringing all his concepts back into one whole concept. #TAEMIN #태민 #SHINee #샤이니 #TAEMIN_Guilty pic.twitter.com/3jGhgWtEuX
— arman⁷ | Layo(ꪜ)er (@audrk99) October 24, 2023
why taemin copying the whole layover concept this is crazy 😭😭
— araceli⁷ ⚜️ (@emogaybts) October 23, 2023
Does Taemin know his company copied Layover?
— frei ⁷ 📀⚔️ (@DRAGON74N) October 24, 2023
Is the packaging of Taemin’s Guilty album plagiarism?
Although one can note the resemblance between the two albums, it is too ambiguous to be labeled as plagiarism. The delivery box packaging has been previously used by ZICO in 2020 and by international artists even before that.
People not having media literacy or minimal knowledge of visual history r making me wake up from my twitter nap today. Zico did the mailer box concept first in 2020 with Random Box. It’s not a concept original to layover. Also, Taemin’s concept is a SHOEBOX not a mailer box btw https://t.co/z6JPWR6aU7 pic.twitter.com/yvBJ2mekGo
— jinkileaks fresh start ⁷⁻¹¹ (@neogotmyban) October 23, 2023
The concept photos are also based on a general theme with ocean and gas stations in the background that was formerly used by both SHINee and BTS. Furthermore, the photos are also based on the classic street concepts inspired by United States culture which are frequently featured in the K-pop industry.
However, SM Entertainment should provide an official clarification considering the weight of the allegations. In the meantime, Taemin will release his fourth mini-album Guilty on October 30, at 6 PM KST.
