Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto issued a statement saying that Yanagi had not plagiarized and would not take legal action.
On the 14th, Liu Xilie issued an apology statement through the brokerage company Antenna.
The statement pointed out that Ryuichi Sakamoto is the musician who has influenced him the most and respected him the most, perhaps inadvertently composing memories, feeling sorry for not finding out, and disappointing everyone, and also explaining the way the song is handled.
On the 20th, Sakamoto Ryuichi's Korean agency It Music Creative released a statement received on the 15th, saying that it was very grateful to the fans who reported it, and that it could see Liu Xilie talking honestly and openly, but did not think it was plagiarism, and would not take legal measures, and could feel the respect for him.
Ryuichi Sakamoto's statement states:
Thank you to the fans who reported it to him, and mr. Liu Xilie for his frankness in talking about it publicly. Although the two songs are similar, I don't think any legal action is needed to protect my work Aqua, and I can see the respect he has for my work.
Ryuichi Sakamoto said that he had several songs that were strongly influenced by Baha and Debusi, and he loved them, respected them, and learned a lot from them. But he doesn't think his work is the same as theirs.
Ryuichi Sakamoto believes that all creations are influenced by existing art. If you add 5-10% originality, it will be a very good work. This is his long-standing view.
He himself has always done his best to improve the proportion of originality in his music, but it is not easy. But he thinks it's also the uniqueness of art.
Thank you to Liu Xilie and the fans for their unsparing support.
Good luck to Liu Xilie's new album and best wishes him the best results.
In addition, the economic company It Music Creative has made their position clear:
We deplore the recent conclusions that have been drawn solely on revelations and speculations. Although it is late, I hope that the misunderstanding can be eliminated to a certain extent through the statement.
For the [1900] incident that broke out after June 15, Sakamoto Ryu also knew about it and confirmed the information conveyed by Antenna. (Unlike "Aqua", "1900" is said to be completely unaware of It.) Still, Mr. Liu believes he should apologize seriously to avoid a recurrence of the problem. )
At present, on the one hand, Sakamoto Ryu does not want the topic to continue to spread, and hopes to respect the artist's own wishes. Hopefully, this will bring some answers to many people who are depressed by this matter these days, especially those who ask questions for the first time, and then bring a little comfort to the fans of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yanagi.
So far, SK D&D residency brand EPISODE and Yoo Hee-yeol's joint music project "Living Music" and Sakamoto Ryuichi's music have reached a consensus on the issue of plagiarism.
Do you think Ryuichi Sakamoto was publicly approached and reached a private settlement, or did Liu Xilie really not plagiarize?