HYBE’s BigHit Music has asked a federal judge in California to authorize a subpoena on X Corp. to reveal the identity of an anonymous user who allegedly leaked BTS’s latest album ARIRANG before its March 20 release.
BigHit is the South Korean label behind BTS and a wholly owned subsidiary of entertainment giant HYBE.
The label filed an ex parte application on April 9 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, bringing the petition under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, a statute that allows a foreign litigant to extract evidence from a US entity if the evidence is for use in a foreign proceeding.
BTS broke records across major streaming platforms when the K-pop act dropped ARIRANG. The record pulled in over 110 million streams on Spotify in its first 24 hours, breaking the record for the most-streamed K-pop album in Spotify history and the most-streamed album in a single day this year, Spotify announced on social media.
BigHit said Arirang also sold 3.98 million copies on its first day of release, citing local album sales tracker Hanteo Chart. The figure surpasses BTS’s previous first-week record of 3.37 million copies set by Map of the Soul: 7 in February 2020 — in a single day rather than a full week.
“BTS and other prominent music groups invest extensive resources into planning and executing the most effective release of albums, songs, lyrics, and associated material as possible, so as to have the greatest possible impact on potential listeners and the market when the media are released.”
BigHit Music’s ex parte application
The label is now targeting an X account that operated under the display name BTS ARIRANG LEAK and username @jwngkcck. The account allegedly distributed unreleased songs, lyrics, concept art, and album cover images in early March 2026, according to the filing, which you can read here.
The account’s biography read: “fan account | not violated any rules, no copyright, following all @x’s rules,” according to the filing.
BigHit said the leak violated its statutory and legal interests, causing damage, including by undermining its efforts to promote BTS.
“BTS and other prominent music groups invest extensive resources into planning and executing the most effective release of albums, songs, lyrics, and associated material as possible, so as to have the greatest possible impact on potential listeners and the market when the media are released,” BigHit’s lawyers wrote.
“Unauthorized leaks severely undermine these efforts, destroying the excitement and anticipation for hearing never-before-released songs and causing substantial economic and reputational harm in the process.”
As part of the album launch campaign, BigHit struck a deal with Netflix in February to exclusively stream BTS’s comeback concert where they performed songs from ARIRANG. TikTok also unveiled a BTS ARIRANG In-App Experience during the release day.
BigHit says it has since reported the copyright violation to X, and the account’s posts have been deleted. Its username was also changed, the filing said.
“Unauthorized leaks severely undermine these efforts, destroying the excitement and anticipation for hearing never-before-released songs and causing substantial economic and reputational harm in the process.”
BigHit Music’s ex parte application
The label is now seeking to hold the person responsible accountable and to recover damages through legal proceedings in South Korea.
BigHit said it “cannot do so unless it identifies the Account’s user(s).”
“If X was subject to the jurisdiction of South Korean courts, Applicant would be able to obtain the requested information through regular discovery proceedings in South Korea. However, X is a Nevada corporation with its principal office located in Bastrop, Texas, and that South Korean courts thus do not have jurisdiction over X, which is why Applicant cannot seek discovery from X in the lawsuit proceeding in South Korea.”
In a separate declaration filed by HYBE’s Head of Global Legal Affairs Team, Claire Shin, BigHit cited the urgency of its request as South Korean telecommunications companies purge user data after 90 days.
“It is my understanding that South Korean telecommunication companies only store identifying user data for ninety days, before it is purged under company policy. Thus there is an urgent need to promptly identify information from x.”
Claire Shin, BigHit Music
“It is my understanding that South Korean telecommunication companies only store identifying user data for ninety days, before it is purged under company policy. Thus there is an urgent need to promptly identify information (including the user(s)’ phone number(s)) from X, so that Applicant may use the information to identify the user(s) through further efforts in South Korea, as necessary,” Shin wrote in a separate filing (read here).
The subpoena, if approved, would require X to produce all access logs of the account and the time zone associated with the timestamps from January 1, 2026, through the date X responds to the subpoena, according to Exhibit A of the application.
X would also be required to submit any contact information linked to the account’s credit card, bank account or other electronic commerce details.
This is not the first time HYBE has deployed this approach. The company has previously used the same 28 U.S.C. § 1782 statute to reveal the identity of an anonymous X account, @webelieveinbots, which had posted over 3,000 tweets since March 2025 containing allegedly defamatory statements.
The account falsely accused HYBE/BELIFT LAB of pressuring artists to participate in political events, mistreating artists and executives, deleting evidence, and covering up abuse, according to a filing in August last year. The ex parte application was granted in September.
Elsewhere at HYBE, the company on April 9 filed complaints in the US to crack down on bootleggers selling counterfeit BTS merch ahead of their performances at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on April 25, 26, and 28 — the opening dates of the group’s US tour.
The bootleggers’ identities are not yet known. The complaint states that it “will be amended when their true names and capacities are ascertained.”
The filing, which you can read in full here, is designed to secure a court order that would give HYBE’s agents and law enforcement the legal authority to seize counterfeit merchandise from whoever turns up selling it in and around the venues.
HYBE said it is seeking an order “to seize and impound any and all Bootleg Merchandise which the Defendants attempt to sell, distribute or hold for sale at, within, or in the vicinity of the Tampa Shows and the other U.S. concert performances on the current Tour, before, during and after said concerts.”
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