NewJeans' Unilateral Contract Termination Sparks Debate
Nov 29, 2024
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On the 28th, NewJeans announced the termination of its exclusive contract with its agency, Ador. NewJeansheld a press conference at some place in Seoul on the day and declared that his exclusive contract with Ador will be terminated as of midnight on the 29th.
The members argued that they didn't have to file an injunction or pay a penalty for suspending the exclusive contract because Ador had abandoned his obligation to protect NewJeans, which is a significant reason for termination of the contract. He also stressed that he wants to be with Min Hee-jin, former CEO of Ador, and that he has no intention of giving up the name New Jeans.
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However, Ador's position was different. Adore is sorry that he planned and proceeded with an exclusive contract termination press conference without sufficient review even before he received a reply to the proof of content. Ador's claim that it did not violate the contract and that trust was unilaterally broken is not a reason for termination. The exclusive agreement signed between Adore and the members of the NewJeans is still in effect"
If NewJeans terminates his exclusive contract with Adore, the penalty he will have to pay is astronomical. According to the Fair Trade Commission's standard exclusive contract, the average monthly sales for the previous two years multiplied by the number of months remaining in the contract will be set as a penalty as of the time of termination of the contract. This is because the penalty is regarded as the expected return that the agency will earn for the rest of the contract period. According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system, Ador's sales last year amounted to 110.3 billion won. NewJeans has a remaining contract period of five years. Therefore, the industry predicts that the penalty for NewJeans will be between 400 billion won and 600 billion won.
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Lee Hyun-gon, a lawyer at Saerol Law Firm, said in his account, `The most prominent part of the New Jin's press conference is that the contract will be terminated but not litigated. It's an unprecedented way. If you file a provisional injunction, you can't move until you come to a conclusion. But you can leave without filing a lawsuit. If this happens, you have to file a lawsuit against NewJeans at Adore, and NewJeans just has to wait for it. No one can stop NewJeans from becoming independent now."
Then "NewJeans asked if he could go unilaterally without a lawsuit, but that's a wrong argument. Hive unilaterally notified former CEO Min Hee-jin of the termination of the contract between shareholders. Hive unilaterally terminated the shareholder contract for no reason, and NewJeans had good reason to go out, so he supported NewJeans.
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The members were trainees from Hive label Source Music before joining NewJeans. In other words, all expenses for training and management of members came from Hive's pocket. In addition, the reason why Adore was established in the first place was because of Hive's capital. With Hive's infrastructure, he was able to make NewJeansand spend tens of billions of won to shoot albums and perform activities. It is the end of the calculation with Ador that NewJeansreceived the settlement a year after his debut, not the settlement that includes the time, effort, and funds poured out of Hive. Nevertheless, the industry's opinion is that there is no reason for Hive to release the contract as NewJeanswants. Now, NewJeansis making a gesture to keep it as much as possible because he is the only artist at Adore, but if the gap does not close to the end, he may file a lawsuit.
In any case, NewJeansbegan his journey of thirty thousand miles in search of his mother. Attention is focusing on whether NewJeanswill be able to make another once new by succeeding in the post-hive.
silk781220@sportschosun.com
