SEVENTEEN
The agency PLEDIS ENTERTAINMENT has taken legal action regarding the leak of personal data and malicious posts targeting the group SEVENTEEN.
On September 26, the agency issued a statement saying it is actively cooperating with the investigation into professional ticket scalpers, and that suspects who leaked unpublished information about the artists have been referred to the prosecutor’s office for trade secret violations. It also announced that no leniency will be given for malicious posts and that further legal action is planned.
The agency specified that it is actively cooperating with the investigation into professional scalpers who obtained SEVENTEEN tickets illegally to resell at high prices reaching millions of won. In addition, suspects who leaked confidential information about unpublished albums and concerts were found guilty of trade secret violations after a police investigation and were referred to the prosecutor’s office.
Legal actions against malicious posts and comments are ongoing. PLEDIS ENTERTAINMENT stated:
“We have collected evidence of malicious posts through real-time monitoring and fan reports, and we will file additional complaints.”
The agency emphasized that malicious posts targeting specific members, including spreading false rumors, defamation, ridicule, and even targeting members currently in military service, will also be subject to legal action.
The agency concluded: “We grant no leniency or compromise for acts of defamation and disparagement against our artists. We will respond decisively so that the perpetrators are severely punished.” It also encouraged fans to actively submit reports via the “HYBE Integrated Artist Rights Violation Reporting Site.”
Below is the translation of PLEDIS ENTERTAINMENT’s statement:
“To protect the rights and interests of our artist SEVENTEEN, we regularly take legal measures against various actions that infringe on their rights, including malicious posts. We would like to inform you of the main developments in this regard.
Information on the investigation regarding professional ticket scalpers
We are actively cooperating with the investigation into professional scalpers who illegally obtain tickets and resell them at high prices, reaching millions of won, to gain excessive profit. We provide the authorities with documents and statements to eradicate this phenomenon. We will continue to respond actively until these scalpers are punished and the ticket issues are resolved.
Information on the response to leaks of unpublished artist information
Regarding repeated leaks of confidential information about unpublished SEVENTEEN albums and concerts on anonymous online forums, we inform you of the progress of the investigation. According to police investigation results, the suspect was found guilty of disclosing trade secrets and referred to the prosecutor’s office, where the investigation is ongoing. These leaks constitute a serious violation of trade secrets, harm the legitimate efforts of the artist and our agency, and cause significant damage. We will continue to fully cooperate with the investigation to ensure the suspect is severely punished according to the law.
Information on complaints regarding malicious posts and comments
We are pursuing multiple legal actions, civil and criminal, as well as requests for disclosure of information from foreign jurisdictions, against malicious posts and comments targeting the artist, as indicated in our previous regular notifications. Since these notifications, we continue to collect evidence of malicious posts and comments across portals, national and international communities, music sites, and social networks, using a real-time monitoring system and fan reports. The collected posts and comments will be subject to additional complaints.
We also continue to report, collect evidence, and take legal action against malicious posts targeting specific members, including defamation, ridicule, false rumors, as well as those targeting SEVENTEEN members currently in military service. We grant no leniency or compromise for acts of defamation and disparagement. We cooperate closely with authorities to ensure perpetrators are severely punished.
The interest and reports from CARATs supporting SEVENTEEN are a great support in our legal actions. If you discover malicious posts or other violations against the artists, we encourage you to report them via the “HYBE Integrated Artist Rights Violation Reporting Site” (https://protect.hybecorp.com). For a quick and effective response, we recommend submitting full screenshots or printed files (PDFs) of the entire screen, where the URL, author, content, and posting date are clearly identifiable.
We deeply thank CARATs for their continued support of SEVENTEEN. PLEDIS ENTERTAINMENT will continue to work to protect the rights and interests of our artists.
Thank you.”
Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: SNS SEVENTENN
