The Interview: South Korean singer to sue Sony Pictures for illegal use of song

Everyone heard that North Korea is not impressed with the new comedy film The Interview, starring Seth Rogan and James Franco and released recently after much controversy.  However, it’s from South Korea that a court case is swiftly heading towards Sony Pictures.

 

Screengrab from movie trailer 

It seems Sony Pictures used Yoon Mi Rae’s song, “Pay Day” in the movie illegally.  Kpopstarz reports that while there had been initial discussions about using the song in The Interview, the company had never actually received official permission from South Korean rapper, Yoon or her label, Feel Ghood.  “Pay Day” comes from Yoon’s third studio album, dating back to 2007. 

Yoon and her husband Tiger JK are co-CEO’s of the production company and told the K-Pop Herald they only knew the track had been used in The Interview after the movie had been released.  Remember the scene where North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un is partying?  Part of Yoon’s song, where she raps “Yell louder, yell louder,” played while Kim drank heavily, smoked cigars and played pool with Franco’s character, accompanied by a bunch of lingerie-clad women.

 

Screengrab from movie trailer

The Interview hit the headlines recently when Sony Pictures suffered a cyber-attack, allegedly from North Korea, due to the content of the film.  Following this, Sony cancelled the Christmas release of the movie, but fans across the U.S.A. called for the release of the movie, citing freedom of speech, and Sony Pictures did eventually release the movie at around 320 theaters across the United States Thursday.  The film was also simultaneously released on the Internet, a first for any major studio to open online and in movie theaters at the same time.

The film also featured music from (and an interview with) from Eminem, as well as Katy Perry, Yuna Song and popular Chinese singer Jay Chou.  When viewing the soundtrack list on IMDb, it is interesting to note that when mentioning the song “Pay Day (May Day Remix)” it lists the song as being “Courtesy of Feel Ghood Music.”

It seems the controversy over The Interview is set to continue and if Hustler boss, Larry Flynt, keeps his promise to release a porn parody, things could finally, actually get quite funny.