This week,  MBLAQ released their sixth mini album entitled Broken. The lead single from Broken is the R&B infused "Be A Man" which sets the tone for the album. While audiences have responded well to the new release, there has been feedback that "Be A Man" bears an uncanny resemblance to the 2001 'NSYNC hit "Gone". "Be A Man" not only shares the structure of the song, but is accompanied by a very similar track.

While it is harmless to be derivative, blatant replication is another story. Over the years, K-Pop has been plagued with accusations of plagiarism which have ranged from direct replication of music, uncredited sampling, and concept plagiarism. Most recently, the Park Myung Soo and Primary collaboration "I Got C" for Infinity Challenge came under scrutiny. "I Got C" was said to strongly resemble Dutch artist Caro Emerald's Liquid Lunch.  I Got C continued to have sell successfully until the song was discontinued from digital and physical sales.

 'Be A Man' sounds a lot like 'Gone', to the extent that it has sparked a debate amongst netizens.

While K-Pop has also been plagiarized, it is interesting to see examples where artists are blatantly copying the work of other performers. While most instances are more obscure, the fact that 'NSYNC shared the same vocal style composition as MBLAQ makes the resemblance more apparent. After comparing the two songs, do you think it is just a case of inspiration or does Be A Man clearly plagiarize Gone?