In Vietnam, the phenomenon with the name ‘Son Tung M-TP’ is known throughout the country, especially for the young generation from 10 to 30 years old. Son Tung’s name is popular not only because of his extremely good songs and performances but also because of the scandals surrounding this singer. Specifically, the scandals of plagiarism of the song Warm sunshine fades away (Nắng ấm xa dần), The rain passed by (Cơn mưa ngang qua), My love from yesterday (Em Của Ngày Hôm Qua), … were well-known by most people at that time. Recently, the community of Vietnam has pointed out that Son Tung’s new song – We of the present (Chúng ta của hiện tại) is suspected of plagiarism, claiming to be 90% similar to the Chinese song ‘R&B All Night’.
Definition of plagiarism
Plagiarism is the use or imitation of someone else’s music in one’s own original songs. We can divide plagiarism into 2 types:
- Copy a piece of the song or the whole song to one’s work.
- Copy part of the elements creating the song such as rhythm, melody, or motif.
The first case is quite easy to arbitrate. This is definitely a violation of the law of Vietnam as well as in the copyright law of most countries and should be punished according to the law. However, the second case is what makes the plagiarism scandals complex as plagiarism is a relatively vague category with no clear definition.
Even if there is a definition, it is broad, and can’t be covered in all detail. A rule on plagiarism in one country won’t be accepted in other countries, at least until now as there are no international copyright laws and regulations. Arguing whether a song is plagiarized or not is very complicated.
Furthermore, in fact, due to technological limitations and musical regulations, there are cases where a singer or songwriter inadvertently plagiarized another person’s song. With the huge database of the internet, a person might compose a song that is almost identical to another person, completely unaware of the existence of the other song. However, with such cases of alleged “inadvertent plagiarism”, we cannot know if the person is really ‘unintentional’ or if they directly steal and lie when exposed.
Therefore, for such cases, most will be dealt with according to the law, meaning that they will be punished as if they have intentionally violated the law. There might be extenuating circumstances but the main charge will not be disbanded.
In addition, one factor in the music industry that makes plagiarism cases even more difficult is the use of samples for music production.
Definition of sample
Sample in the music world is roughly understood as an audio file, available for all people to use. It can be a guitar piece, a piano piece, a melody, a vocal part, or even just a clapping sound. Music producers will use these samples to add to their music, or they can use them to transform into something different, completely new. Historically there have been songs that used samples as the main templates or frames that became extremely popular and loved by millions of people.
Audio samples can be self-recorded or purchased/downloaded online. Some well-known sample makers in the music world include Cymatics, Internet Money, Splice, etc. These samples have a free version (free for profit), and producers can use and make money from these samples without having to pay a usage fee. The free samples may be simple sounds such as whistles, claps, wind blowing, etc.
Samples that are not free to use
In addition, the music world also has samples that need to be paid for the right to use and trade for commercial purposes (non-royalty free). For these samples, if you do not pay and use third-party software to download illegally, you may be copyrighted by streaming platforms such as Youtube, Spotify, Apple Music,… and sued by the original sample owner. If it is serious, unauthorized sample users in addition to having to pay a large amount of money as compensation fees are also at risk of prison time.
The question of plagiarism of the song ‘We of the present’
When a social media post published two songs We of the present by Son Tung M-TP and a Chinese song called R&B All Night of KnowKnow to compare the similarities in melody and rhythm, the community instantly realized the similarity in the two songs.
The R&B All Night was published long before the song We of the present, hence constituting a claim for plagiarism. If it is the other way around, the case would not be so popular as many small singers try to copy Son Tung’s songs every day.
More specifically, in the We of the present song of Son Tung from 5:38 onward, the background music is said to be 90% similar to the Chinese R&B song All Night at 0:37. This accusation of plagiarism caused a wave of controversy on social networks, an endless battle between fans and anti-fans of Son Tung-MTP, the hottest singer of Vietnam at that time and in present.
Some comments from the online community
Some comments from the online community regarding the case before it is settled:
– The other song when I heard it for the first few seconds, I found it a bit wrong. If you listen closely, it sounds like the real thing.
– It’s the same thing. Could be that Son Tung really…
– Why nobody wonders the authenticity of the song when it first debuted, but now?… when Son Tung is in another relationship scandal.
– Those who see the same raise their hands.
– Maybe it’s the same round of harmonies but not plagiarism.
– There is a bit of similarity, but it’s not completely plagiarism.
The truth about plagiarism
In the past, Son Tung M-TP also had a song that used samples in common with other songs. Such as Sky Tour Intro 2019 and Love Me Olé by MAS.
In the case of R&B All Night and We of the present, although we can’t be completely certain whether Son Tung has plagiarized or not, even now in 2022 when the case has closed as there are no official ban or answers, comments from Son Tung’s representative or of the Chinese song’s owner.
However, on February 22, 2021, there are another more serious plagiarism claim regarding this song. The music video “We of the present” was removed from the YouTube platform for copyright reasons by an account holder named GC due to a copyright claim. The GC account said that the MV of Son Tung M-TP copied the instrumental part called “Is You Mine” mixed in the style of Bruno Mars. According to this account, the producer of the “We of the present” MV admitted to copying his music, and confirmed that the MV will be uploaded again on Youtube soon (which it did shortly after).
The second case obviously got resolved by some agreement between the two parties, probably a large amount of compensation from Son Tung’s side. We would never know if the first case got resolved in a similar method.
Nonetheless, the root cause of the conflict is analyzed to be because the two producers of the two songs used the same sample. Therefore, the new melodies are so familiar and many people think that Son Tung has plagiarized the music.
Both songs are in retro style, share the same drum pattern, the same instruments are rhodes and saxophone, the tempo 78 is the same and the key is similar (C minor and D major) so the lyrics of this song can be easily sung on the beat of the other song.
The case got famous due to the image of Son Tung in Vietnamese’s views. Nobody in the world will try to sue if he is not famous with a large amount of assets in his name. Because if one counts the songs that use the same Sample like this, there are probably a million songs like that out there, and nobody really cares. For example, Craic Boi Mental’s Pink Lucozade (New Remix) (it is reported that the R&B song All Night sampled this song), …
Using a sample in making a great song is not wrong. However, singers and producers cannot let samples limit their creativity in songs. In contrast, plagiarists cannot claim to have only sampled similar samples to an opponent’s song in order to escape the fact that they have plagiarized themselves.
A professional singer can use samples for reference and learning but they absolutely must not abuse and then be accused of stealing other people’s intellectual property. If artists use samples, they need to use them wisely, and music listeners should not rush to assume that someone plagiarizes music just because “this melody is familiar” but should learn more about the nature of the incident before making judgement on the Internet.
You can see a list of Vietnam IP Firms here.