More and more K-Pop idol members have stepped up to claim their rights as all 6 members of South Korean boy group B.A.P are filing a lawsuit against their talent agency, TS Entertainment.
According to Instiz, in their report, they claimed they have received exclusive information that B.A.P has filed a lawsuit today against his agency, TS Entertainment, for an invalid contract.
According to Soompi, Korean media outlet Xports News is reporting that all 6 members of B.A.P have submitted a lawsuit against TS Entertainment to the Seoul Western District Court on 26th Nov.
It was reported that official contracts signed by B.A.P in 2011 were only advantageous to the company and unfavourable to the members. The contracts they’ve signed last for a minimum of 7 years from their first album instead of the date they signed their contract. In fact, the contracts broke the rules outlined by the Fair Trade Commission as the members claim that their income mostly goes to the company even though they’ve worked hard to earn their incomes.
B.A.P has released a total of 11 different albums and held concerts all around the world since their debut in January 2012. Even though they have done their best for their fans, the members were given unfair treatment by the company and have been dealing with their deteriorating health problems.
If you’ve been following the K-Pop music scene very closely, you would’ve noticed that B.A.P is not the first K-Pop group to file a lawsuit against their company. The lawsuit wars between idol groups and talent agencies began taking serious effects in the K-Pop music scene ever since 3 members of TVXQ filed a lawsuit against SM Entertainment for invalid contract.
EXO‘s Kris and Luhan have also filed a lawsuits against SM Entertainment earlier this year to nullify their contracts. Just recently, SNSD Girls’ Generation’s Jessica got kicked out of the group abruptly, which SM Entertainment claimed was due to personal situation. As a result, all of the members that have filed lawsuits against their company have left the group they were in.
On 27th Nov, TS Entertainment released an official statement regarding B.A.P’s lawsuit and stated that they will formally handle the situation. The full statement is as follows:
TS Entertainment has supported the various activities of the company′s artist, B.A.P, and worked hard to achieve a common goal. Under mutual consideration and faith, the company, with the first priority put on the safety of the artist, has cancelled all official schedules and provided a time of rest.
Also, with the agreement of the artists, we began discussing future plans recently when we suddenly found out about this lawsuit through news articles.
UPDATE (28th Nov):
TS Entertainment has released yet another official statement following news of B.A.P’s lawsuit against the agency less than 24 hours since the initial shockwaves were sent through the South Korean entertainment industry.
As follows:
Hello, this is TS Entertainment.
We are here to deliver our official position regarding B.A.P’s contract nullification lawsuit that has been reported this afternoon.
All this while, TS Entertainment has tried our best to support the various activities of our artist B.A.P and strived to meet our mutual goals. And like we revealed back on October 28, all their schedules had been cancelled to give them rest as we had made the protection of our artist our priority out of mutual consideration and trust.
And while in the midst of in talks about their future activities, we learned of the sudden lawsuit through news articles.
Currently TS Entertainment is in the process of trying to figure out the details and the truth of the matter. However, we wanted to make clear that there is no such thing as a ‘slave contract’ or ‘unfair contract conditions’ in our contracts, and we have never given them unfair, one-sided treatment.
We will take steps to confirm the matter regarding this lawsuit, and respond in an official manner.
We once again convey our sorry hearts for causing concern to all who love TS Entertainment and its artists.
Thank you.
What do you think of B.A.P’s lawsuit against TS Entertainment? Do you think other K-Pop groups have been suffering from slave contracts as well? Share your thoughts in the comments box below!
(Source: 1, 2 via Instiz and Xports News / Featured image)
