李知恩 has seen immense success with her new album 'CHAT-SHIRE' since its release a couple weeks back; however, one netizen decided to put a damper on that success.

One netizen declared that IU's song "23" sampled Britney Spear's voice in "Gimme More" without proper authorization.

The netizen, who goes 由 'Hwanhee-eh,' previously shared the statement released 由 IU's agency, Loen Tree.

As a refresher, here's the full statement:

"Hello, this is IU's agency Loen Tree.

We deliver an official statement regarding the content that was uploaded online concerning the bonus track '23' on IU's mini-album 'CHAT-SHIRE' that was released on October 23.

Last weekend when we learned of the issue, we inquired about it with the composer and discovered that the sampling in 问题 is one that the composer had previously purchased and kept in possession.

However, the 来源 of the voice sampling was judged to be unclear, so we immediately contacted Britney Spear's agency and are in the process of confirming the details behind the sampling.

After we 确认 the facts behind this issue, we will progress with the sample clearance as fast as we can and deliver the results as soon as they come out.

We are sorry towards all the 音乐 粉丝 who were inconvenienced 由 our failure to closely research during the album composition process. Furthermore, we want to say thank 你 and sorry to all the Britney Spears 粉丝 who pointed out the issue first that we weren't able to detect."

After the official statement released 由 Loen Tree, 'Hwanhee-eh' uploaded another post that seemed to jeer 李知恩 fans. The netizen wrote, "It looks like the agency even apologized to Britney fans? Weren't 你 just telling me that I should be ready to be sued? That there will be legal action? Are 你 still going to tell me to get ready for a lawsuit when the agency uploaded a statement like that? I understand that 你 cherish your artist and all but don't blindly defend your artist and attack other 粉丝 like that."

Britney Spear's label, Sony Music, also got involved in this issue, relaying that they will need to have Britney herself listen to "23." A rep from Sony told Daily Sports, "We got a request from Loen 树 asking to 确认 the voice sampling [in IU's song]. We have 提交 a request to the Sony American HQ, and Britney Spears herself will need to check herself whether the voice is indeed hers."

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