Billlie’s agency Mystic Story has denied allegations that the girl group’s new AI-assisted animated video plagiarized a French student film, although Paris animation school GOBELINS says it is preparing legal action.
Mystic Story released a new statement this week dismissing claims that Billlie’s comeback art film “Cartography of the Unconscious” copied the 2025 French short film “Niccolò.”
The agency said an internal review found “no deliberate plagiarism” in the AI-assisted video, which was used to promote the track “$ECRET NO MORE” from the group’s upcoming first full-length album, “The Collective Soul and Unconscious: Chapter Two,” according to Allkpop.
Legal proceedings against Billie’s agency
Despite this, GOBELINS Paris has confirmed it is considering legal action after former students claimed their graduation film was used as source material without consent.
The controversy began after the co-creators of “Niccolò,” recent GOBELINS graduates, publicly claimed that their film had been used to generate what they called an “AI slop music video.”
They claimed that the key visual motifs and dark European-style animation of their short film appeared in Billlie’s art film without credit or permission.
According to posts shared in fan communities, students asked GOBELINS to support them, and the school, in turn, announced it would support potential legal action on their behalf.
Industry animators at major studios like Disney and Pixar have reportedly expressed support for online students, framing the controversy as part of a larger debate over artificial intelligence tools and art theft.
Mystic Story has faced criticism before after the company’s CEO defended the artistic use of AI for Billlie’s project before later promising to avoid “unnecessary” AI in future work, Asian Junkie reported.
In its latest response, the agency insisted that the video was created as an original piece and said there was no intention to exploit artificial intelligence to undermine human performers. However, following the backlash, the company temporarily limited access to the “cartography of the unconscious” video on some platforms, intensifying public scrutiny.
GOBELINS says it is still examining legal options and that no formal lawsuit has yet been announced. If the case proceeds, it could become an important test of how copyright law treats AI-assisted works that closely resemble existing animation.
Fans, artists and educators are now watching both the agency and the school for further statements as the release of Billlie’s album gets closer, according to Soompi.
