Three members' lawsuit against SM Entertainment

Well it looks like SM is manipulating teenage boys with dreams of becoming a singer with this ridiculous contract!

nanadnakatsu wrote:Oh my goodness. I just happened to read these just now.
DBSK. disbandment. Totally in my nightmares. GOD GOD GOD. am sobbing so frickin hard right nao.

It clearly states they're not disbanding. So there's no need to worry about that.

I do worry though, how will it work if three are at one label, and two at another, to perform as one group?

I don't think it's right at all, to be able to give songs produced by DBSK to other artists.

and that they should have to pay 3 times what was invested in them, and 2 times what they'll miss out on, even if it's SM's fault.

This would leave our guys with no money, and maybe even having to go bankrupt, wouldn't it?

First of all, the Courts have sided with the three TVXQ members. In reference to the exclusive contract suspension request submitted by Xiah Junsu, YoungWoong Jaejoong and Micky Yoochun, the Courts laid down the decision that 'SM Entertainment is not allowed to interfere or question any individual activities of the three members or create contracts regarding group activities without the consent of the three members.'

This dispute between the group that is the Hallyu Wave's key player and king of the Asian market and the group's agency, the nation's top entertainment agency, is said to bring large waves of change not only to the entertainment industry, but to the entire nation as well. Many have said that the Courts' ruling has kick started the battle against unlawful contracts while others have said that the decision has completely ignored the trainee-raising method of most entertainment agencies.

The TVXQ case can be seen as a result of SM's 'Failure At Management.' However, that is only the evaluation based on the results. The reason the TVXQ dispute has come so far and deep is because there was a charge forward with a lack of 'communication and respect' on both sides.

One of the reasons that this dispute cant not be the center of attention in the entertainment industry is because the Courts have sided with the members of TVXQ and completely overturned the traditional method of agencies' formation of their contracts. We cannot blatantly say that all 13 year contracts are slave contract. As long as 'communication and respect' is prevalent and a fair income division is put in place, it will be a happy contract. They would be willing to sign onto a contract longer than 13 years at will. They would not think of moving to a different entertainment agency.

If TVXQ's birth is inspected, the process is a system with no room for 'communication and respect.' TVXQ is a team that was created by picking the best out of hundreds of trainees and forming a group. Even the members themselves would not have known what lay ahead of them in the future of their music careers. They were able to snag the title of 'Top of the Korean Music Industry' under the system of a large entertainment agency, and their entrance into the overseas market was probably calculated meticulously. The entire process would amount to a total of 10 years.

As this much time has passed, the members are bound to have looked back on themselves. They are also bound to have increased their musical control and bettered their abilities to select their paths. There were times when they had to stand on a stage regardless of the fact that they did not want to, and they would have had to handle the agency's actions to stop any activities that may 'endanger the group' with a feeling of oppression. This is where 'communication and respect' is needed. As the two sides are the bests of the best, there probably was the need to approach the situation calmly and after much thought. If things have come so far, there were bound to have been instances unknown to the public that pushed it so far. To become irreparable.

In truth, the members are preparing to 'sue for the nullification of the contract and compensation for damages incurred from the income division' while SM is submitting an appeal. SM has also stated that they will be revealing information that has not been told before and releasing an official statement.

When seeing all the big and small disputes that have erupted in the Korean music industry, they all originate from income division problems (unlawful contracts), failure to communicate (respect for human rights), natural limits (musical limits, lack of responsibility as a celebrity), and a interference of the family (interference from a third party).

But the income division problems have been the biggest disputes in this industry. Income division is important to gain trust and investments. If income division is not transparent, that is what a slave contract is. The lack of transparency in income division is what started the lack of human rights for celebrities in the music industry in the mid 90s.

-omitted-

The music industry must use this dispute as a stepping stone towards a change in 'communication and respect'. What can gain more trust than a contract is 'communication and respect' and 'a transparent income division'. There is no other 'road to a solution'.

Source: Star News + DNBN
Trans: jeeelim5@tohosomnia.net
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This will probably be the longest article you're gonna read. It's funny how we rarely get news from these boys, but when there's news, it's like THIS long. Happy Halloween, folks!

SM Entertainment will hold a press conference today regarding the conflict with TVXQ/DBSK/Tohoshinki.

Lawyers of SM Entertainment said:
' The court's ruling for TVXQ is not fair. They didn't consider the main reasons of the case. Their long contract is so that we can let them grow and have a long term deal with them. We want to look at their career in the long run and the court's decision is not letting us do that. This is going to affect TVXQ's international promotions. It'll also create confusion for starts that want to have long term contracts and move on to bigger things later in their careers and for the companies that want to nurture talented people for a long time. Not only that, it'll have some unwanted consequences on exports of Korean music as well as other issues.'

They continued to say:
' Each year, we adjusted the contracts in favour of the members. Before this porblem, the three members never complained about anything. Now that they have succeeded this much, they are complaining. They have just started to reach the top and now want to seperate. Before a final decision is made, the three can do their personal and individual work. However, this does not grant the three members any rights as part of TVXQ.'

Because of all this, TVXQ has not been able to work and SM Entertainment will seek to receive compensation for damages during the time that TVXQ has been inactive.

Source: The Star Chosun
Shared by: allkpop

I've got few complains if you're willing to listen:

1. Sure, we get it, you had the best interest of our boys at heart and you're looking out for the Korean music industry right?
   
2. Does contract renewals rings a ding dong bell on your money-minded heads?
   
3. Are you trying to imply that TVXQ are being self-centred and back-stabbing towards SM after you nurtured them?
   
4. Demanding compensations? Are kidding me? Have you seen the profits distribution of TVXQ over the pass 5 years?
   
5. From my point of view, you're screwed SM, big time.
   

Seriously things just got worse after getting better, and it's even worse than ever -___-



Yunho and Changmin’s fathers express strong disapproval of other members

The fathers of Yunho and Changmin, the two members that have sided with SM entertainment, spoke in support of their sons and SME while condemning other three members and their parents. They claimed that the dispute has more to do with the trouble that have arisen from the beauty product business rather than contractual matters.

Mr. Chung, the father of Yunho, stated:

The two members who did not involve themselves in this legal dispute are the real victims here. They suffered from financial loss, psychological suffering and most importantly they lost their reputation. Who is to compensate them for their losses? I intend to ask the three members this: Whatever the reason, why do you intend to cause such great controversy and drive DBSK, an international brand name, into a break-up? Do you care at all about the other two members and their suffering?

The beauty product business wasn't something that was supervised by SME. On top of that, the beauty product company itself wasn't very trustworthy. When it was started, I felt that DBSK's reputation could potentially suffer from involvement with that company and advised my son of the issue. He shared my concerns as well, and that is why he did not involve himself in the business. SME later asked the three members to withdraw from the business but their parents resisted unreasonably. Mr. Shim (Changmin's father) and I tried to convince them as well but they simply refused to change their minds. I later learned that the three members took up legal actions against SME without consulting me nor Mr. Shim. DBSK is not owned by those three members only. They ignored not only the controversy that would rise but also the rights of other two members.



Mr. Shim, father of Changmin, stated:

Simply put, the other three members took legal actions against SM because of the beauty product business matter and other reasons which involve their financial gains. What they claim as their reasons, reasons such as unfair contract and unclear profit division are merely excuses to hide the true reason behind their actions. After the three members started the beauty product business, one of the parents called me and told me shenanigans like "This business can be worth millions or even billions in the future. When we tell the media that DBSK has started a business, share price of our company will hit the roof - we will tell you in advance so you can profit from the information."

Three members claim that the contract is unfair and calculations are unclear, but my son and I have read over the contract with SM clearly and agreed to all clauses, from the very first contract through all five revisions that have been made. For every income my son has received I reviewed all of the the numbers. I feel sorry for the three members and their parents as they must know of the truth but they continue to make false claims."




CEO of SME calls the legal actions a “fraud”


The entertainment company held a press conference today and told their side of the story regarding their legal dispute with three members of TVXQ/DBSK. In addition to a statement by Yunho and Changmin, the two members who did not take legal actions against SME, and statements by their fathers, SME's own representatives spoke up as well; Mr. Kim Young Min, the CEO of the company, stated the following.

Back when we first advanced to Japanese market with S.E.S., major entertainment companies in Japan normally asked for contracts in length from 5 to 7 years. As long as the entertainer stayed with the company for the stated amount of time, the company would not cease investment into the entertainer. When we first planned for BoA to work in Japan, we set the length of the contract at 10 years to allow for long-term investment and a partnership with a major Japanese entertainment company. This resulted in SME working with AVEX, the largest entertainment company in Japan. BoA's great success in Japan was a product of such planning.

When we first planned for DBSK, we wanted to make them the number one artist in Asia. Five members and their parents shared such vision and agreed to add 3 years to initial 10 year contract. The members and their parents agreed to the contract because they found the vision as the number one artist in Asia, constant support from SM, plans to go abroad and continuous investment into the group very appealing. Everyone thoroughly reviewed the contract and agreed to all clauses. To keep the promise of advancement into Japan, SME invested over $4 mil into DBSK despite poor financial condition that the company was in. After 5 years in Japan, we can finally say that we are successful. It is unfair to focus merely on the number 13 without any background knowledge of how the contract was made and the goals and visions shared between SME and DBSK.


Kim Young Min then revealed some startling events that had occurred earlier this year.

On January 6, 2009, the three members told SM that they were going to China for a vacation; but in fact, they attended a meeting with the beauty product company's Chinese subsidiary to talk about investment into the company. We only realized of the deal after photos of them promoting the company surfaced online. We then learned that the three members are board members of the Chinese subsidiary and that they even carry business cards of the company with their name and position engraved.

The three members demanded an increase in their share in profit and we accepted their demands. In April, we had a dinner party after our concert in China. The three members told members of other groups about how much they trusted in SM. Shortly after in May, a Japanese fan asked AVEX's customer service department regarding an event by the beauty product company which claimed that the winner would have dinner with DBSK. SME feared that losses resulting from matters related to the beauty product business would be impossible to recover from. We wanted to review the members' contracts with the beauty product company to protect the members from potential dangers but they refused to share the contract with SME and did not take any actions to relieve SME from our concerns regarding their investment into that company. In June, a major beauty product company contacted us and said that they wanted to use DBSK in their commercials but the three members refused due to their own interest in beauty product business. Shortly after they took legal actions against SME.

The truth face of their action is a fraud. A fraud which fooled the entire nation with words such as "human rights" and "slavery".

Regarding the recent court ruling; three members are now free to pursue personal projects, however all DBSK-related work must be done through SME. Yunho and Changmin intend to promote DBSK in Korea next spring, and we feel that it should be planned at least six months in advance. SME asks the three members to respond to this by November 12th.



Newsen- 1 2 3

TVXQ not allowed to continue activites??


SM Entertainment will have a press conference today regarding the conflict with TVXQ/DBSK/Tohoshinki.

Lawyers of SM Entertainment said:

"The court's ruling for TVXQ is not fair. They didn't consider the main reasons of the case. Their long contract is so that we can let them grow and have a long term deal with them. We want to look at their career in the long run and the court's decision is not letting us do that. This is going to affect TVXQ's international promotions. It'll also create confusion for stars that want to have long term contracts and move on to bigger things later in their careers and for the companies that want to nurture talented people for a longer time. Not only that, it'll have some unwanted consequences on exports of Korean music as well as other issues."



They continued to say:

"Each year, we adjusted the contracts in favor of the members. Before this problem, the three members never complained about anything. Now that they have succeeded this much, they are complaining. They have just started to reach the top and now want to separate. Before a final decision is made, the three can do their personal and individual work. However, we do not acknowledge the right for the three to work as TVXQ"



Because of all this, TVXQ has not been able to work and SM Entertainment will seek to receive compensation for damages during the time that TVXQ has been inactive.

Stay tuned for more information from the press conference.

no picture, cause i'm way too confused to go grab one. what the hell, sm? also, what does this mean for them in japan?? also, to the mods, i think i tagged this correctly...


source: allkpop
Seoul Central District Court: TVXQ Petition & Decision (10.27.09)

basically, the court order decision states:

1) The contract is void, pretty much. The three are free to pursue their own activities separate from the group.

2) The rest of the petition is denied.

3) The petitioners (JJ/YC/JS) will bear 1/3rd of the fee for the lawsuit, the respondents (SME) will bear the rest.






Credit: readyforever korean version. dnbn

'crossed a bridge that cannot be uncrossed'? That sounds really poetic however there's no need to uncross that bridge >

Recently, a Chinese company in Beijing filed a lawsuit against the trio and Crebeau. The three pages above contains the reasons the company sent to the trio explaining why they sued.

Here is a rough translation (certain parts are summarized to keep it comprehensible):

Regarding the use of DBSK group name or the members, Crebeau (Beijing), and the tort committed to our company:

January 6th, 2009, three members participated in Crebeau China investment orientation. Because they guys are popular, a lot of fans were present.

May 6th, 2009, Crebeau had informed our company that had invited DBSK as Crebeau product representative, the three members joined as company shareholder (director), and express that the trio will participate in a large promotion, seeing how DBSK have a huge fan base in China, with strong appeals, plus their participation in the promotion activities that Crebeau had promised, thus our company signed the contract with Crebeau.

June 8th, 2009, “Crebeau’s Korean branch WE# PLUS Co.,LTD signed contract, agreeing to become crebeau’s surety (view contract). Thus, our company invested nearly 300,000 yuan (Chinese currency) for renting room, renovating, finding staff, and other preparational work.

In June of 2009, the three of them along with Crebeau newly registered a Crebeau in Beijing. Using the name of Crebeau to contact our company and getting us to purchase more Crebeau products.

June 26th, 2009, after all the preparation work, our company signed a formal contract with Crebeau. We spent about 700,000 yuan to import Creabeau products and started the promotion.

Jun 22, 2009, as Crebeau promised and schedule, the three of them will attend July 16th, 2009 for Shanghai press conference under the title as director of Crebea, with a fan meet, allowing our company to start promoting. Our company spent 200,000 yuan on promotions.


July 8th, 2009, Crebeau (including Crebeau Beijing) have problems regarding the schedule, and informed our company that the three members will not attend the press conference and promised they will pay for all the damages, and apologized on the behave of the three members.

July 14th, 16th of 2009, trio’s family members represented them in Beijing and Shanghai and apologized for their inability to attend.

July 11th, after DBSK’s Beijing concert, Crebeau lawyer notified us of a conference, in which Kim Junsu and Park Yoochun expressed their apologies to us.

Middle of July 2009, our company were notified of the lawsuit between Korea’s SM entertainment and the members of DBSK, and we were asked to cooperate in provide information.

July 24th, 2009, we became worried about Crebeau and the three members. We tried to contact Crebeau to ask whether they will pay us for the damages, but received no response to this day.

Regarding their actions, there have been lots of disappointment for fans, and with the lawsuit going on, Crebeau products are nearly impossible to sale, which created a large financial lose for our company, until now, our company accumulated to up to 1,200,000 yuan in loses.

Recently, we have received some information. We think there as a tort of fraud committed against us. We believe it’s not hard to see, the trio along with Crebeau’s close relations, creating a wronged believe of there was an implied warranty of authority for Crebeau, to make us enter into this. They lured our company into this, then did not attend the press conference and repeatedly apologizing, and at the same time started a lawsuit with another company, their actions created many loses for our company.

To protect us, we hope their will pay for our financial loses, or our company will take legal action, finding theirs and Crebeau’s responsibility and reveal related things.

We hope to receive a reply by November 7th 2009, or they can be prepared to face consequences.


---
Credit: baidu
Trans+shared by: sharingyoochun@wordress

091229 TVXQ's Chinese Fanclub Takes Legal Action Against SM Ent.

It has been confirmed that Chinese fans are planning to take legal action against SM Entertainment and the Chinese sponsoring company for the cancellation of the Shenzhen 'TVXQ Thrid Asia Tour-MIROTIC' concert that was to be held on November 21st.

A representative of Chinese TVXQ fansite Baidu BAR said in an e-mail interview that, "We were severely hurt by this event," and "We could have understood if the concert had been canceled for reasons beyond anyone's control, but we cannot sit idly by and let these deceptive tricks go," and stated that they are receiving legal counsel for this case.

The representative highlighted the forged note of confirmation from the members to state that they would participate in the concert and said, "This case includes fraud. This is the thing that we find hardest to accept," and "We are beginning to take legal action against SM Entertainment and the Chinese sponsor company by
asking for Perpetuation of Evidence and other actions."

They stated, "The Shenzhen concert was set by SM and the Chinese sponsor company without consultation after the three members handed in their provisional disposition request so it was an unfair to the members of TVXQ."

Regarding the forged signatures, the Chinese fans showed their disappointment by saying, "In the end, SM did not give us a proper answer." They also directly criticized SM by
saying, "They do no respect their singers, hurt their fans and use media play in their favor. Therefore, we will no longer cry to understand or trust such a company."

They said, "We are fans who support TVXQ and we hope that this cancellation of the concert does not affect the members in a bad way," and "We will not let the company put all the blame on the members of TVXQ." They also showed their unwavering support by saying, "We are Chinese fans who grew with TVXQ for six years and we believe in them." They also stressed that, "We hope that this concert does not put any more stress on the members who are already strained from the legal dispute."

They also said, "We hope that people, like the media, do not get fooled by rumors and partial explanations that switches black and white and make the wrong assumptions. We hope that they judge this event thinking of what is the real problem of this whole situation." They also said, "We hope that the public loves them and keeps a fair and understanding eye on them."

The Chinese fans also said, "We are not strong, and we lack experience but we will unite and let the truth be revealed."

Source: [ohmynews]
Translation credits: jeeelim5 @ tohosomnia
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