Pinkfong Wins Legal Battle: “Baby Shark” Not Plagiarised, Court Rules

South Korea’s Supreme Court has dismissed a six-year legal case claiming that the hit children’s song "Baby Shark" plagiarised a US composer’s work. The ruling upholds earlier decisions favoring Pinkfong, the South Korean company behind the viral song.

Jonathan Wright, also known as Johnny Only, had recorded a version of the tune in 2011 based on a traditional children’s folk song. Pinkfong released their version in 2016, and it became an international phenomenon with billions of streams on YouTube. Wright claimed copyright in his version but the court ruled his version was not sufficiently different from the original folk song to be a new version. 

"Baby Shark" became a global phenomenon due to its catchy “doo doo doo doo doo doo” lyrics and hand gestures. By November 2020, it became the most viewed YouTube video ever, and the first video to hit 10 billion views. 

The song is thought to date back to the United States during the 1970s and has been altered in many variants over the years. Wright’s sanitized 2011 version featured children dancing by a pool, and he only considered legal action after Pinkfong threatened legal measures when a political party used the song.

Supreme Court’s decision finally ends the long-running copyright dispute, confirming that Pinkfong’s "Baby Shark" does not infringe on Wright’s work.