Seth Rogen and James Franco's movie "The Interview" may be embroiled in another controversy, this time, over music.
Representatives of K-Pop star Yoon Mi-rae announced on Friday that they would be suing the makers of the film over the unauthorized use of one of her hit songs.
A verse of Yoon’s 2007 song “Pay Day” appears in The Interview during a scene in which Dave Skylark (James Franco) is partying and drinking with the fictional Kim Jong-Un (Randall Park). Yoon can be heard singing “Yell louder, yell louder, yell louder,” throughout the montage.
"We came to know that 'Pay Day,' a track from Yoon's third studio album (2007), was used for the film 'The Interview,' only after it was released," the singer’s management agency Feel Ghood Music told the Yonhap News Agency. "We initially received an offer to insert the song, but discussions were on hiatus on some points. Sony Pictures Entertainment used the music without due procedure or contract."
Feel Ghood Music says that as a result, they will be taking legal action against both Sony Pictures and DFSB Kollective, a South Korean music agency that distributes K-Pop songs internationally.
Since the movie's release online on Wednesday afternoon, "The Interview" has been purchased or rented more than 2 million times, according to Sony, making it the studio's highest-selling online movie of all time.
