After the popularity of “The Untamed” in 2019, NewStyleMedia Group (NSMG) formed “The Untamed Boys (T.U.B.S), which included cast members from the show. The group consisted of 6 members, Yu Bin, Ji Li, Cao Yuchen, Zheng Fanxing, Song Jiyang, and Li Bowen, and went on to tour Asia with plans to tour other countries before the pandemic hit. Members, Song Jiyang and Zheng Fanxing, announced their departure from the group on January 7 due to their studies and personal career developments.

Since their debut in November 2019, the group has released their own songs. One of the recent songs they released is called “Favorite Song”, sung by Yu Bin and Cao Yuchen. However, there were debates among netizens about the song sounding similar to “Plae Mai Ok”, a song sung by Billkin for the Thai BL series, “I Told Sunset About You” (aka “BKPP the series”) OST. Afterwards, fans of the series started accusing T.U.B.S’ “Favorite Song” of plagiarizing “Plae Mai Ok”, which translates to “Lost in Translation” or “Can’t Translate It”.

On February 5, NSMG issued a statement denying the plagiarism claims stating T.U.B.S released “Favorite Song”, while “Plae Mai Ok” was released in October 2020. However, NSMG states they had already bought the copyrights to the song in May 2020 from BMG. They also claim the creative process of the song was completed in March 2020, showing an email and certificate of the copyright. They explained the song was worked on by several creators in the US in a closed off recording session, not allowing any outside contact. They said, “How could there be any plagiarism?”

Credit: Weibo (1, 2, 3), Billkin IG