Source Music And BELIFT LAB Set To Sue “NewJeansFam” And 6 Other YouTubers, US Court Grants Access To Identities

Major developments are underway in Source Music and BELIFT LAB’s ongoing pursuit of legal action against hate comments and defamation.

This week, the US courts confirmed that Google must now provide the HYBE labels with the legal identities behind seven controversial YouTube channels.

| HYBE

With more than 250,000 subscribers combined, the YouTubers in question are:

• Cute Rabbit Jjang
• EnterPick
• People Box
• Da Issue
• NewJeansFam
• Issue Tan
• Wangjam Issue

All seven of the channels have been accused of publishing videos with damaging claims against ILLIT and LE SSERAFIM. The court order filed by HYBE and its labels alleges that the channels made accusations that LE SSERAFIM “masked its members’ singing abilities from the general public” and that ILLIT “plagiarized its content from other artists,” among other statements.

| Source Music

Source Music and BELIFT LAB first filed defamation claims against the YouTube channels in question with Seoul’s Western District Court on August 30, 2024. However, without the identities of the channel owners, the cases have been unable to proceed further.

| BELIFT LAB

Now, the US court has paved the way for both companies to continue pursuing legal action in South Korea. On September 9, 2024, HYBE, Source Music, and BELIFT LAB turned to the US federal courts to file an ex parte application under a law that allows for the gathering of evidence for use in foreign proceedings.

The first breakthrough came on November 27, 2024, when the Chief Magistrate signed an order granting the application. This decision authorized the agencies to issue a subpoena to Google, requesting detailed information on the identities of the YouTubers.

| Ken Lund

The data requested included Google account IDs, creation dates, names, dates of birth, genders, phone numbers, email addresses, and even access logs associated with the channels. A certificate of service followed on December 5, 2024, officially putting Google on notice.

| Source Music

Under the terms of the order, Google had a 30-day period to serve the subpoena on the individuals in question. This period allowed both Google and the affected individuals to file motions opposing the request. However, as of February 5, 2025, an update to the case confirmed that the court had not received any objections by the deadline.

| BELIFT LAB

The case was then closed earlier this week. According to the terms of the original court application, Google now has 10 days from the date of the 30-day deadline to provide Source Music and BELIFT LAB with the details they requested.

Once the identities of the channels have been produced, both labels will have the information needed to serve the defendants in the defamation lawsuits that were filed in Seoul last year.

| Sundry Photography

This is the latest in a string of efforts HYBE and its labels have made to take action against defamation, harmful rumors, and hateful comments. After an initial request was turned down, the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled in August 2024 that Google must provide the personal information of two YouTube creators accused of defaming LE SSERAFIM.

Earlier that year, however, the courts had also blocked HYBE from accessing the identity of an X user who claimed LE SSERAFIM was at fault for GFRIEND’s disbandment and alleged that BTS had connections to the cult Danworld.