French animation school claims girl group Billlie plagiarized its design... agency says, "It is our creation"

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[The Financial News] A French school specializing in visual and media arts, widely recognized in the global animation industry, has raised allegations that a Korean girl group copied its images.
On the 29th of last month, GOBELINS Paris wrote on its Instagram account that it had received a tip from the production team behind the 2025 graduation film Nicolo, saying that K-pop group Billlie had clearly plagiarized images from the film. It added, "Our position on plagiarism remains unchanged: the unauthorized use of our students' artwork is unacceptable."
The school also said it had activated its legal team to protect copyright and review possible legal action.
Billlie, a seven-member girl group under Mystic Story, released a teaser video for the track "$ECRET no more" on YouTube on the 22nd of last month ahead of the release of its first full-length album on the 6th. GOBELINS Paris claims that images from Nicolo were used without permission in the video.
David Florian, one of the film directors who first raised the plagiarism allegation, also posted on his Instagram account, "The famous group Billlie has released a new music video. It was produced using generative AI," and claimed that "some scenes are almost a direct copy of our design."
He shared an edited video comparing Nicolo and Billlie's music video side by side, arguing, "Look closely, even minor details such as the line between the lips and the chin were taken exactly as they are."
He went on to say, "Generative AI is a major problem for artists around the world. We must stand together as artists, and viewers should also take action." He added, however, "Do not leave malicious comments directly on Billlie or on the 'AI artist' who made the music video. We do not support that kind of behavior."
He then added, "Instead, please share your views in a constructive way and explain the issue to people who may not be familiar with it."
On the 1st, Mystic Story said, "First, we deeply apologize and take seriously the concern this matter has caused for fans," adding, "As soon as we became aware of concerns about similarities between some characters in the video and certain works, we carried out a thorough review of the entire production process together with the video director."
It continued, "The video is a creative work produced based on the director's thorough pre-planning and creative intent. We confirmed that it did not intentionally borrow from any specific work or infringe copyright in violation of creative ethics." The agency emphasized, "We respect the rights and value of all creators and are grateful for their hard work and dedication."
Mystic Story also said, "Going forward, we will apply clearer creative standards in content production and will not produce any content made with generative AI that could undermine the quality of our content in any form."
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter