NEWJEANS
The legal battle between the K-pop girl group NEWJEANS and its agency ADOR took a decisive turn this week, as the court’s ban on the group’s five members pursuing solo advertising activities became final.
None of the members filed a final appeal by the legal deadline on Wednesday, effectively ending their challenge against the injunction, according to legal sources.
The Seoul High Court rejected the group’s appeal on June 17, upholding a prior ruling that barred the members from signing independent advertising contracts or acting as their own agents. The court found insufficient grounds to void the exclusive contracts signed with ADOR, a subsidiary of HYBE.
The dispute began when the members claimed their contracts with ADOR were nullified as of November 2024 and began pursuing individual commercial activities. In response, ADOR filed for an injunction in January to prevent the members from independently signing advertising contracts.
“It is difficult to conclude that ADOR seriously violated key obligations in the exclusive contract or that mutual trust between the two parties has irreparably broken down,” said the Seoul Central District Court in March, granting the injunction.
The members’ request to overturn the ruling was denied in April, and their subsequent appeal to the High Court was also rejected. In May, the court approved ADOR’s request for indirect enforcement, ordering each member to pay 1 billion won (approximately €720,700) to ADOR for every violation.
Separately, a first-instance trial is ongoing regarding a lawsuit filed by ADOR seeking to confirm the exclusivity of the group’s contracts.
Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: Korean Medias
