One Direction Accused Of Plagiarism By Australian Production Company
One Direction, the popular British boy band, has been accused of plagiarism in their latest video “You And I,” by the Australian production company Oh Yeah Wow.
Late last week, the London-based band, which is made up of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson, debuted their latest video for the single from the Midnight Memories album.
The One Direction plagiarism accusation came from an Australian production company Oh Yeah Wow, which has created videos for the likes of Gotye and Ben Folds.
According to Australian band Clubfeet, the “You And I” video, directed by Ben Winston — who has produced other clips for the band — looks a lot like the video the band made of their hit song “Everything You Wanted” last year.
Oh Yeah Wow addressed the One Direction controversy in a statement:
“Late Friday night whilst we were busy observing the good traditions of the public holiday, something very suspicious was brought to our attention. It seems that the chaps of One Direction have taken it upon themselves to regurgitate our original concept, as seen in our award-winning clip for Clubfeet’s ‘Everything You Wanted.’
“Don’t get us wrong, we here at Oh Yeah Wow are big One Direction fans and are envious of their ability to maintain flawless hairdos. To be crystal clear, OYW has nothing against creative evolution. Artists constantly reinterpret other works that have inspired them and we’re fine with people taking a technique and using it to create something new… The wider problem is, that plagiarism and copycatting is becoming increasingly common and acceptable.”
On Twitter, Oh Yeah Wow has been defending its statement, and making it clear they don’t want to make the millions of One Direction fans upset:
@JawDropperNiall @niallglobe We don’t wanna upset any fans, we just want answers from someone. We’re unsure who is to blame unfortunately
— Oh Yeah Wow (@OhYeahWow) April 23, 2014
They also want to speak to Winston or a rep for One Direction, but have been unable to:
Dear @onedirection, @benwinston & @Fulwell73, would anyone care to comment? There are upset fans (and original creators) that want answers.
— Oh Yeah Wow (@OhYeahWow) April 23, 2014
@WW1DInfo Tried reaching out to his production company, no response.
— Oh Yeah Wow (@OhYeahWow) April 23, 2014
@sonymusicuk the bit where our clip for @helloclubfeet is ripped off. Yeh, that whole end bit #awkward #nodirection pic.twitter.com/4SaucaNcnh
— Oh Yeah Wow (@OhYeahWow) April 24, 2014
We will let you be the judge of whether One Direction plagiarized the Oh Yeah Wow, Clubfeet video. Watch them both below:
[Image via Mr Pics / Shutterstock.com]
