released his version in 2011<\/a>, four years before Pinkfong\u2019s, but both were based on a traditional melody popular for years at children\u2019s summer camps in the United States.<\/p>\nThe courts ruled Wright\u2019s version did not differ enough from the original melody to qualify as an original creative work eligible for copyright protection, and that Pinkfong\u2019s song had clear differences from Wright\u2019s.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court said its ruling reaffirms the established legal principle on existing folk tunes as derivative work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Supreme Court accepts the lower court\u2019s finding that the plaintiff\u2019s song did not involve substantial modifications to the folk tune related to the case to the extent that it could be regarded, by common social standards, as a separate work,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Pinkfong said in a statement to The Associated Press that the ruling confirmed its version of \u201cBaby Shark\u201d was based on a \u201ctraditional singalong chant\u201d that was in the public domain. The company said it gave the tune a fresh twist by adding \u201can upbeat rhythm and catchy melody, turning it into the pop culture icon it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chong Kyong-sok, Wright\u2019s South Korean attorney, said he hadn\u2019t received the full version of the court\u2019s ruling yet, but called the outcome \u201ca little disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyway, the matter is now settled,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s our work that came out first, so we can handle the licensing on our side and I guess we then each go our separate ways.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pinkfong\u2019s Baby Shark became a global phenomenon after it was released on YouTube in 2015, with the original \u201cBaby Shark Dance\u201d video now exceeding 16 billion views and peaking at No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. <\/p>\n
Baby Shark remains a crucial product for Pinkfong, which earned 45.1 billion won ($32.6 million) in revenue in the first half of 2025, according to its regulatory filing. The company has turned the five-member shark family \u2014 Baby Shark, Mama Shark, Papa Shark, Grandma Shark, and Grandpa Shark \u2014 into TV and Netflix shows, movies, smartphone apps and globally touring musicals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Korea\u2019s Supreme Court rejected a 30 million won ($21,600) damage claim Thursday by an American composer who…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":145326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,336,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-145325","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-lawsuits","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115027673363697718","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}