GU’s “Love Berry” Faces Plagiarism Scandal: Original Developer Involved in Controversy

The unauthorized plagiarism scandal involving GU’s “Love Berry” has sparked significant controversy, particularly due to its connection with the original developer. Here’s a breakdown of the key developments in this unfolding story.

Allegations of Plagiarism

• Accusations: GU’s “Love Berry” has been accused of borrowing elements from another artist’s work without permission. This situation highlights a common issue in the music industry, where artists often face scrutiny over originality and copyright claims.
• Original Developer’s Involvement: The scandal is further complicated by claims that the original developer of “Love Berry” is entangled in the allegations. This raises questions about collaboration and whether there was prior knowledge regarding the alleged similarities.

PR Department’s Response

• Denial of Intentional Copying: In response to media inquiries, GU’s PR department stated that any similarities were unintentional. They emphasized their commitment to originality and mentioned that music often draws from shared influences, which can lead to coincidental similarities.
• Commitment to Resolution: The PR team expressed a willingness to engage in discussions with the parties involved to resolve the issue amicably. They are currently reviewing the claims and are prepared to take appropriate actions if necessary.

Apology for “misleading post”

“Let’s go on a date! When you’re ready to dress up, tell me the combination number,” he wrote, along with a photo of cards with GU items on them. “It seems to be a homage to the SEGA arcade game ” Oshare Majo Love and Berry (hereinafter Loveberry ),” which was popular in the 2000s. Brands and characters that were popular during the Heisei era have been revived and “Loveberry” is one of them. 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the game’s release, and there has been a lot of excitement with exhibitions and the release of collaboration products with apparel brands” (fashion writer). Up until now, GU has released many collaboration products with characters, and people who saw this post were excited, saying, “Are they hinting at a collaboration…???” and “Will there be a Loveberry 

collaboration?” However, Hiroshi Uemura, developer of “Loveberry” and former game creator at SEGA, quoted GU’s post and posted, “If you tell me, I’ll make it so that you can dress up and dress up within the advertising budget.” In response to questions, they replied, “Of course it’s not a collaboration. It’s a Loveberry-style promotion…”, disappointing expectations of a collaboration. Then, on social media, there were a series of critical voices such as “What kind of ethics are you doing if you don’t have permission and it’s not a collaboration???”, “I thought it was a Loveberry collaboration!?!? But the original developer denied it, so it’s just a copy… the official copy… it’s disgusting…”, and “It would be okay if it was just a personal hobby, but it’s not good for a company to do it.” When we asked GU about this, they replied, “We apologize for posting misleading information on GU Official X. GU respects the work of developers and creators, and we posted this with the intention of providing our followers with an opportunity to think about their styling in a fun way. We would like to promote GU’s products and initiatives through posts that will please our followers, while paying even more attention to communication that does not lead to misunderstandings . ” (GU Public Relations Representative) It might be better to improve literacy before “fashion power.”