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The story
It’s been reported that pianist and composer Fuminori Oura has filed a damages lawsuit against flumpool guitarist Issei Sakai. Oura claims that for roughly eight years he composed songs — including “Koe ni Naranai Omoi” (“Feelings That Can’t Be Voiced”), used as background music in the TBS drama Taigan no Kaji: Kore ga, Watashi no Ikiru Michi! (“Housework on the Other Shore: This Is the Path I Live”) — that were credited to Sakai instead of himself. On the 5ch Geisoku Sokuho+ (celebrity/sports tabloid) thread, posters repeatedly compared the case to the infamous Mamoru Samuragochi ghostwriting scandal, while speculation also swirled about whether other famous artists’ songwriting credits hold up to scrutiny.
“For about eight years, I created background music for dramas at the request of flumpool guitarist Issei Sakai. But the songs I composed were released under Sakai’s name, and I was never credited as the composer,”
says Fuminori Oura, who works as a pianist and composer. Alongside scoring an upcoming horror game set for release in 2027, he also works as a piano teacher.
The dispute centers on “Koe ni Naranai Omoi,” a piece of background music (“gekiban”) used in the 2025 spring TBS drama Taigan no Kaji: Kore ga, Watashi no Ikiru Michi!, which starred Mikako Tabe with Dean Fujioka among the cast. Oura is now suing Sakai over the song, seeking damages.
Source: jprime.jp / Original article here
What people said
The Samuragochi scandal was about a ghostwriter, but isn't this different? If he put someone else's song out under his own name without permission, that's plagiarism.
I thought the exact same thing, but that case also had the whole 'can he actually hear' controversy, so nothing's gonna top the Samuragochi scandal. Also, like back then — pay enough that they won't talk.
Fukuyama's songs sound super amateurish, but if a pro composer deliberately made them that way, that's actually impressive.
They went independent, so they lost Amuse's backing.
As long as everyone agreed to it, it's fine. If the song itself isn't anything special, it'll sell better under a voice actor's or actor's name than under the real composer's.
Well, obviously — even Yukari Tamura leaves the lyric-writing to pros.
It's not 'now' — he's actually filing suit. Try reading Re: #1.
Even if Akimoto's done something shady, he shares the proceeds with everyone around him, so he's probably fine. The Sega gig was rough though.
When Akimoto's lyrics have old-fashioned words like 'disco' or 'cafeteria,' I figure he's actually writing it himself this time.
With Akimoto it's the opposite — it's unknowns who get their start by writing under his pen name.
The one commissioning the work tends to fudge (deceive) things in various ways.
This one's simple — they didn't pay enough.
Probably because no contract was ever properly in place.
I figured he'd be shunned and sidelined, but he's actually kept getting bits of work — playing in a band with Koyabu and Sentence Spring's Kawatani, etc.
> Genie High
When forming the band, Kawatani advised Koyabu that they needed a keyboardist. Koyabu, who had performed with Niigaki at 'BAZOOKA!!!' and Koyabu Sonic and was on good terms with him, recommended Niigaki as 'the most ridiculously skilled keyboardist I know.'
I wonder if he even filed taxes on it.
Isn't it Shigeru Izumiya?
At the very least they should've paid him the same rate as an arranger — several hundred thousand yen per song.
Background and Key Points of This Story
This case is often compared to the ghostwriting scandal involving Mamoru Samuragochi that came to light in 2014, but the legal nature is different. In Samuragochi’s case, the problem was that he publicly presented a false persona — a deaf composer who was a second-generation atomic bomb survivor — and deceived the public. By contrast, the lawsuit Oura has filed concerns a dispute over contract terms and moral rights of authorship: he claims the songs he composed were credited to the person who commissioned them rather than to himself, not that the work itself was stolen or that anyone faked their background. In the music industry, it’s not uncommon for outside composers to write background scores or songs credited to a singer or idol group, and this poses no legal problem as long as it’s agreed to by contract. The thread prompted a flood of unverified speculation about other famous artists’ songwriting practices, but as of now the only confirmed, public matter is the lawsuit between Oura and Sakai — treating other cases as equivalent to it would be premature.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku Sokuho+) thread “[Music] Kohaku-appearing band flumpool embroiled in lawsuit over ‘ghostwriter’ allegations! Composer Fuminori Oura reveals 8 years of songwriting [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★]“.
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