BTS’ record label has taken the first step to sue an anonymous X user who allegedly leaked songs, lyrics and artwork from ARIRANG before the release of the chart-topping comeback album.
BigHit Music, the HYBE subsidiary that serves as BTS’ label home, initiated U.S. legal proceedings on Thursday (April 9) to discover the owner of the account @jwngkcck. BigHit claims this user posted portions of ARIRANG on X (formerly Twitter) in early March, ahead of the hotly anticipated drop of BTS’ first album in six years.
The court petition, obtained by Billboard, asks a U.S. judge to issue a subpoena requiring X to disclose this user’s identity. BigHit intends to use the information to bring a civil lawsuit against the user in South Korea, where the label says it will seek financial damages for copyright and trade secret infringement.
“BigHit and BTS invest extensive resources into planning and executing the most effective release of albums, songs, lyrics and associated material as possible, so as to have the greatest possible impact on potential listeners and the market when the media are released,” reads the court document. “The leak of BTS’s album destroyed the element of surprise that applicant was building up towards its release, negatively impacting its reputation and sales.”
The alleged leaks in question are no longer available on the @jwngkcck X page. BigHit says the user removed these posts — and changed their display name away from “BTS ARIRANG LEAK” — after it submitted copyright infringement reports to the social media platform.
Reps for BigHit and X did not immediately return requests for comment on Monday (April 13).
HYBE and its subsidiaries routinely turn to U.S. courts for help when they want to identify and sue anonymous internet users in Korea. That’s because U.S.-based social media platforms, like X and YouTube, are only subject to subpoenas issued by judges here.
The bulk of these cases arise when HYBE wants to pursue legal action in Korea for defamation, which can be either a civil or criminal violation in the country. The K-pop juggernaut has, in the past, asked U.S. judges to unmask users who spread false rumors online about major groups like NewJeans, SEVENTEEN and TWS.
ARIRANG was released on March 20 and has spent its first three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The album’s lead single, “Swim,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains in the top 5 of the chart.
