Is one of this summer’s global hits plagiarized?

Media outlets in Korea (and even US-based music magazine Spin) have been abuzz the past several days over reports that Meghan Trainor’s song “All About That Bass” is extraordinarily similar to a song by the singing trio Koyote.  

“All About That Bass” was released during the middle of June and has become one of the biggest hits of the summer. It peaked at number 2 on the Billboard “The Hot 100” chart and the music video has over 30 million views on YouTube.

There are reports suggesting that Trainor's tune bears a striking resemblence to the song "Happy Mode" a song by co-ed K-Pop trio Koyote from their 2006 album London Koyote.

At the beginning of August, the Korean songwriter and producer responsible for “Happy Mode,” Joo Young Hoon had tweeted that he believed the similarity was a coincidence. However, Korean fans and media kept picking up the topic, and on August 26 Joo Young Hoon tweeted that he was indeed consulting with his lawyer.

It would be easy to say that the two songs are just similar, except for the fact that fans have compiled a video an audio track where the two songs overlap, drawing further attention to the matter.

This isn’t the first time that a popular Korean song has been translated into another language, but it might be the most high profile case. Recently, Korean entertainment news reported that a Disney Channel affiliate in Latin America was taking K-Pop songs and using it for a Glee-like show.

As the songrwiter, Joo Young Hoon, was not made aware prior to the release of “All About That Bass,” it is still unclear whether Koyote’s company gave away the rights to the arrangement for “Happy Mode.”

Koyote debuted in 1999, and last made headlines as a group with its song “Hollywood” last summer. One of the members, Kim Jong Min, has plans to make a solo comeback at the beginning of September with “Run To The Rescue.”