A North Island native said she was thrilled to learn a song she wrote hit No.1 in Korea, but not so happy it had been plagiarized.
Port McNeill born singer/songwriter Georgia Murray discovered that parts of her 2009 song We’ll Never Know were used in the song Swing, performed by Hyori Lee, a South Korean pop sensation. It hit the No. 1 spot on April 4, 2010.
It was a year ago Murray, 27, said she received an email from a Korean law firm.
“It said one of the biggest record companies had stolen my song and it had gone to No. 1 by Lee, the label’s biggest artist,” she said.
The lyrics were different, but there was no question the tune was Murray’s.
“Her CD was only on the shelves for two months because as soon as the scandal broke, they took the song off iTunes, took the CDs off the shelves and discontinued her tour.”
As songwriter, Murray was entitled to a percentage of the total earnings of the song.
“It gave me cash to put into my music career,” Murray recently told the North Island Gazette from her Victoria home.
Murray — who’s performed on the ABC show Boston Legal, performed with the Canadian Tenors and sang anthems for NHL and NBA teams — said a non-disclosure agreement precluded her from saying how much money she received in the suit.
“But what I can say is I did get a nice chunk that helped me fund a new CD, called Just a Dream,” she said, noting her new work was released June 24.
The producer who swiped Murray’s song — and allegedly six other songs on Lee’s album from Canadian, American and UK artists — received a year-and-a-half in jail for the crime, Murray said.
“I have no idea how he got my song — the only place where I had it was on My Space as a demo to show my latest work.”
Despite having her work stolen, Murray said it was quite a thrill to learn how popular her song had become.
“Its amazing to think I actually had a No.1 hit song in a country that’s almost twice the size of Canada and I didn’t even realize it.”
Log onto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnw1GpXd2WM&feature=fvst to see Lee perform Swing. To hear Murray’s We’ll Never Know, log in at http://soundcloud.com/georgiamurray/well-never-know.