Actress Lee Yu Bi Runs Into Copyright Issues After Trying To Sell One Of Her Paintings

The actress says she “didn’t realize” it would be a problem.

Just a day ago, actress Lee Yu Bi uploaded a photo of a painting that she created that featured two Pokémon characters. While it seemed like an innocent upload, the actress became the center of scrutiny when it was revealed that she was selling the painting for a charity.

Lee Yu Bi shared the painting onto her personal Instagram page with the caption, “I personally painted this picture. The proceeds made will be given in a charitable donation.” 

While the actress’s deed stemmed from a good place, Lee Yu Bi suddenly found herself battling a copyright issue. Given that Lee Yu Bi painted well-known Pokémon characters, selling it would be a violation of copyright infringement laws, even if it were for a charitable cause.

Actress Lee Yu Bi | @yubi_190/Instagram

Following the copyright news reports, Lee Yu Bi began receiving backlash from Korean netizens who had a lot to say about the situation.

| theqoo
  • “She’s not even good at drawing and she violated copyright laws. It’s f*cking hilarious that she tried to sell this awful painting for charity. She’s probably loaded and has a lot of things.”
  • “???? This is f*cking funny.”
  • “That’s common knowledge, how the hell do you not know that.”
  • “Wow….that’s amazing.”
  • “What the. Is that something you have to think about deeply before understanding or do people really not get it? Isn’t it common knowledge? I cannot understand how she didn’t think of it.”
  • “I am also unaware of our laws, but this is really bad.”
  • “If she just didn’t do anything, she would have remained neutral. Why didn’t she do that.”
  • “It’s like she wanted to advertise that she was stupid.”
  • “Honestly, her audacity is amazing. She didn’t delete her post, but just f*cking disabled her comment section.”
  • “It’s because she stole her silver spoon (wealthy background.) That’s why her head is empty.”

In the midst of the growing backlash, her label Y-Bloom Entertainment released an official apology.

Hello, it’s Y-Bloom Entertainment.

We bring you the official statement regarding Lee Yu Bi’s incident that happened on Friday, June 2.

Lee Yu Bi received an offer from a charity auction, ‘Common Auction.’ With the agreement that the purpose of the painting would be for donation, she happily donated a painting that she drew.

While she painted her favorite characters, she didn’t realize that her painting would infringe on copyright laws. We apologize for the inconvenience we have caused.

We will be more careful to prevent these types of incidences in the future. We will listen to the opinions of Pokémon Korea in regards to all future charity auctions.

Thank you.

— Y-Bloom Entertainment

Lee Yu Bi has since disabled the comment section on her Instagram upload, but has kept the original post up on her page.

Source: theqoo and Yonhap News