broadcasting and entertainment |
[세종=뉴스핌] Reporter Myung Kim = The Fair Trade Commission has conducted a review of the exclusive contract conflict between EXO’s Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin (Chenbaeksi) and SM Entertainment.
According to the related agency on the 8th, the Fair Trade Commission assigned the case where Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin reported their agency SM Entertainment as ‘abuse of position in business’ to the Seoul Office Competition Division.
On the 4th, Law Firm Lin, the legal representatives of Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin, SM reported to the Fair Trade Commission for the abuse of their trading position through the electronic submission of the National Sinmungo.
The three EXO members are known to be grappling with the fact that the starting point for the contract period signed before their debut is set as the start date, the contract period is longer than other agencies in the same industry, and the contract period was extended due to reasons such as expansion abroad.
◆ Similar to ‘TVXQ Incident’?… Sanctions cases in the past
Some are concerned that this conflict, which started when Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin informed SM Entertainment about the termination of their exclusive contracts, is spreading to ‘the second TVXQ event’.
Previously, SM Entertainment had been sanctioned several times by the Fair Trade Commission due to exclusive contract conflicts with related celebrities.
The FTC issued a remedial order in September 2007, alleging that SM Entertainment imposed an unfair compensation clause and contract period when signing an exclusive contract with Kim Ji-hoon.
EXO members Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen (from left) [사진=SM엔터테인먼트] 2023.06.08 dream78@newspim.com
According to the remedial measures at the time, the Fair Trade Commission prohibited SM Entertainment from abusing its trading position to impose unfavorable transaction conditions for the other party, and directed to amend provisions related to compensation for damages and contract period in contracts with associated celebrities.
The Fair Trade Commission also issued a warning to SM Entertainment in December 2010 for signing unfair exclusive contracts with celebrities and trainees. Earlier in 2009, the FTC created a standard contract recommending an exclusive 7-year contract period for entertainers, and right after that, the ‘TVXQ incident’ began.
As a result, SM Entertainment reduced the period of the exclusive contract to 7 years from the date of publication, and changed the penalty clause to an amount obtained by multiplying the average monthly sales for the previous 2 years by the number of months left in the contract . The Fair Trade Commission issued a warning in 2010, considering that SM Entertainment had voluntarily taken corrective action.
However, in the case where SM Entertainment voluntarily corrected the exclusive contract and signed an additional 3-year extension contract for reasons such as overseas expansion without considering the individual and specific circumstances of the trainee, it was corrected by applying abuse of position in trade under The Fair Trade Act gave the order
◆ Fair Trade Commission “We need to work out the details of the specific case first”
SM Entertainment was also sanctioned by the Fair Trade Commission in July 2013. They have been accused of interfering with the activities of JYJ, a group formed by Kim Jaejoong, Park Yoochun, and Kim Junsu, who had filed a dispute with their agency in 2009 after leaving TVXQ.
The three EXO members claim that the longest contract period of 17 to 18 years is unfair. However, SM Entertainment is in a position that there is no problem with the contract, saying that it faithfully follows the standard exclusive contract that the Fair Trade Commission and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism created and recommended to use.
| Sejong Government Complex Fair Trade Commission [사진=뉴스핌 DB] 2021.11.12 jsh@newspim.com |
Until now, the Fair Trade Commission has mainly dealt with exclusive contract disputes from celebrities in the Competition Department of the Seoul office. This case has also been assigned to the competition department of the Seoul office. However, given the seriousness of the dispute involving a member of a popular K-pop group, it is said that there is a possibility that the case will be transferred to headquarters.
Cases reported to the FTC are handled by the district office where the accused is headquartered. The head office in Sejong handles cases involving business combinations, wrongful support, transfer of agencies, cases with nationwide ripple effects, and frequent civil complaints. It appears that the Seoul office and headquarters will make the final decision on the case handling procedure through consultation.
The legal representatives of the three EXO members said that despite the fact that the Fair Trade Commission had issued administrative measures against SM Entertainment on two previous occasions, it reported that unfair contracts had occurred and requested a full investigation into the exclusive contracts of SM Entertainment entertainers . .
An official from the Fair Trade Commission said, “Even if you follow the standard agreement, you can look specifically at each clause (whether unfair),” but “we have to start by calculating the details of the case. ”
dream78@newspim.com
