[NEWS] TVXQ vs SM debate at court

◇ Exclusive contract .. “lifetime contract” vs “for overseas expansion”

DBSK side: “Other famous agencies only have 5-7 years contract with their artists, in coherence with Korea Fair Trade Commissions which allows maximum 7 years for exclusive contact period, not as many as SM which lasts until 13 years.”

“Most idol singers’ active period is during the prime of their life. Therefore 13 years contract can be viewed as a lifetime contract.”

“In addition, if they terminate the contract during half way period, the penalty of sum of total investment and loss will cost up to 100 billion won which is the long term contract device to not allowing the artist to escape.”

SM side: “We already made several times modifications at the contract, in each and every points FTC can not accept. Also, if the artist wants to go international, they can’t choose but to have a long term contract.”

“We already had plan in our hand to do S.E.S record expansion with Japanese famous label back then, but it’s failed since they couldn’t take SM exclusive contract.”

“BoA, Kang Ta, and other artists engaged in overseas activities have exclusive contract period for 15 years. In order to get a result for overseas activities, we need a long period of time, we cant help it.”


◇ Revenue distribution .. “it should be proportional to income” vs “They’re agreed facts”

DBSK side: “The three members think that they do not get distribution revenue fairly to their proportional income. We respect SM business secret, but we also demand an exact calculation data about the income.”

SM side: “We released settlement data about each member publicly every six month. In fact, last February, all 5 DBSK members’ parent had signed the settlement and made an agreement about the contract.”

DBSK side: “The three members are still young men and don’t even know the content of settlement they had just signed. When our lawyer asked for re-statement of accounts, with reasons that it’s secret, the company refused to provide the data. Later on, SM only invited the members without any legal companion to look and talk about the data.”