All SM Artists Are Under The Same Contract

[abstraque.livejournal.com]

In relation to 3 TVXQ members, Junsu, Jaejoong, and Yoochun who filed injunction application to suspend exclusive clause contract, Seoul Court has been collecting all contracts of other singers under SM Entertainment and miraculously, their contract with the agency is completely similar with TVXQ.

SM artists’ contract mostly last for a long period (averagely 10 years), unfair income distribution (50,000,000 won is paid only if the album sold more than 500,000 copies), and penalty termination (3 times of initial investment and 2 times of loss). Many SM idol stars have been in the same shoes as TVXQ for exclusive contract clause.

District Court (first level court) and High Court (second level court) has come to the same conclusion, that the agreement in contract is unfair thus labeled it as “invalid”. However, Supreme Court’s (third level) adjudication has not yet to come. The artist can be said to win the case only if the Supreme Court has agreed to the two court’s adjudication, else it’s not proceed.

CF model Yoo Minho (25) in 2006 had a discord against SM related to exclusive contract as well. Therefore TVXQ’s case in not the first case of an artist having court battle against SM. Even the Yoo Minho’s contract is likely similar with TVXQ contract, which makes it more cliche. Minho’s starting contract period was also close as TVXQ’s, January 3, 2003 (TVXQ is June 30, 2003).

Yoo Minho – SM court battle lasted for 1 year and 6 months in Yoo Minho’s winning with some adjustment clauses, yet she dropped from SM, while the agency influenced the PD of her show to shut down the TV show since she’s no longer worked for SM regardless the good ratings it got.

SM seems to use a standard form in each of its contract therefore it appears that other singers under SM such as Super Junior and SNSD have signed the same contract as TVXQ.

In addition, TVXQ members requested to SEJONG lawfirm–3 members legal representative–through an e-mail on August 5th “Until the trial date is confirmed, please do not reveal anything about our stand, to avoid more court motions.”

source: sportsseoul + ejungblog
summarized by: sharingyoochun

Comments

[painheart.livejournal.com]

o wow. 50,000,000 only??
SM is so greedy..

[cuekey.livejournal.com]

What a bad lose-lose situation SM puts them in.
I feel like LSM is taking advantage of their good intentions and just profits off their talents and hard work. :(

[miduhyo.livejournal.com]

wow, and it's not like anyone else besides tvxq has ever even come close to selling 500k.

no surprises here, though.

[iluvkidnappers.livejournal.com]

"not like anyone else besides tvxq has ever even come close to selling 500k."
this.
ugh this whole thing is a shitfest.

[livvyxo.livejournal.com]

I think when you wanna be a singer that badly, most people would sign anything
and SM have taken advantage of that >:[

[oystersauce87.livejournal.com]

wow being an sm artist is not that good after all despite being more well known than others.

[honeyfunnybunny.livejournal.com]

Oh god ;/

SNSD has to split between 9 members, and SUJU has to split between 13 members.

Ugh, but im proud of the boys taking a stand to this.
Those who debuted later has always referred to the dbsk as the 'oldest sons of SM', so I'm happy they're finally doing something against this thing. They're putting up a very independent role model for the rest to look up to, way to go boys!

however, im kinda scared about SM's influence.
he even got the pd to shut down the tv show Yoo Minho was hosting :/

[stopthedisco.livejournal.com]

They also blacklisted JTL 'cause it was made of the three HOT members that didn't stay with SM. :|

[dandycat.livejournal.com]

[livvyxo.livejournal.com]

summed it up epicly.

[bambayahh.livejournal.com]

it never really clicked that this whole dispute could last as long as 1 year and 6 months until now :|

[livvyxo.livejournal.com]

Oh shit, yeah! I never thought about it, these things can last forever D:

[xinliyoushu.livejournal.com]

Sigh. All of these articles just keep pissing me off.

No wonder we keep reading about how depressed our idols are. D=

[twnklsnowflake.livejournal.com]

>:(

[shoiryu.livejournal.com]

In before a billion comments asking about why didn't they read the contracts first/what were they thinking, OMG SM has a point too they need to make return on their investments, and WHY AREN'T CHANGMIN AND YUNHO SUPPORTING THEM OMG!!!!!!1

I'm really proud of them. This has got to be terrifying and difficult. Setting aside the fact that in Korea you don't talk back to your elders, living under these conditions for so long and then deciding to change them is incredibly brave.

[iluvkidnappers.livejournal.com]

too late bb.

but ia completely

[hoyah.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that TVXQ are trying to quiet shit down. :/ All these statements just lead to so much speculation and while I love to speculate, I feel like some people are inclined to make judgments and accusations based on those speculations alone.

[cakedomination.livejournal.com]

They didn't mention SHINee signing a similar contract, did they?

D: I wonder what other contract terms will come into the light as more news on this appears.

[girlknees.livejournal.com]

50,000,000 won is paid only if the album sold more than 500,000 copies
this clause is ridiculous. SM knows that selling 500,000 copies in s.korea is near impossible, so their basically setting their artist up so that the company can keep all the profits.

[hater-traitor.livejournal.com]

iawtc. not very many artists sell 500,000 albums anywhere anymore. before torrents and whatnot, going platinum was a piece of cake in america and now selling 300 to 400,000 is extremely successful.

[jecca-o9.livejournal.com]

I'm proud of our boys. ♥
And I feel so sorry for everyone in SM.
SHINee's so young /cries.

while the agency influenced the PD of her show to shut down the TV show since she’s no longer worked for SM regardless the good ratings it got.
Well, that's to be expected. You mess with a company as big as that, they will get back at you.

[jing-16.livejournal.com]

Yoo Minho – SM court battle lasted for 1 year and 6 months
FUCK NO.this shouldn't last as long.i will die.

[breathe-ai.livejournal.com]

T__T that picture...they all look so happy...

Glad to hear some court decisions instead of stuff being flung around by lawyers and analysts...

[lydzi.livejournal.com]

All SM Artists Are Under The Same Contract

Which means, that evryone needs to back up the guys from DBSK. They are not only fighting for them, they are fighting for everyone here.

[shoiryu.livejournal.com]

I expect they're all in a pretty difficult position of needing to keep quiet to avoid company wrath at the moment. But Eunhyuk updated his cyworld sounding pretty distressed recently and Eeteuk did too (I know, not much change from the normal, but still.)

I'm sure they're all supportive privately. Everyone's friends, after all.

[kittykitt129.livejournal.com]

Hell yeah, they've got a kick-ass lawyer.
Let's hope the Supreme Court agrees, though it's almost a given.

[miduhyo.livejournal.com]

i know i've said it before, but honestly, the fact that the rest of sm is being dragged into this really does give me a lot of hope. this might be an epic, long court battle, but with the kind of publicity it generates and the fact that it's clear that all sm artists are involved, if tvxq doesn't win, public perception of sm will go way, way, way down, and i think they have to realise that. i mean, either way, it has an effect on their entire star museum, right. so.

[shoiryu.livejournal.com]

I agree with this, a lot. If everyone's suffering, they can't make it out like it's just three people being whiny or greedy.

[albertineroom.livejournal.com]

the agency influenced the PD of her show to shut down the TV show since she’s no longer worked for SM regardless the good ratings it got.


WHAT.

[steve-tales.livejournal.com]

Sadly this isn't just SM ... it's been going on forever all around the world.

I remember a story about the Bay City Rollers, and when one of their guys dropped out he found there was no money waiting for him because of the structure of his contract (wrote every expense against their potential income).

Backstreet Boys and N Sync (and the other Pearlman bands) all had the similar long-term, low pay deals.

History keeps repeating because there are always new faces desperate to be famous.

I can understand these companies wanting a solid contract - they are taking all the upfront risk and expense, so they want to make their money back - but some of these terms are excessive.

I wonder if the SM contracts also have that clause about what happens if they get dropped. Some contracts in America have this horrible thing where, let's say they go through all the training, launch the first album and it bombs so bad they decide to "drop" the band and not make another album. The problem is that they aren't totally dropped, the contract may still hold onto them for a few more years, putting the artist in limbo - not making anything to complete the contract but can't work for anyone else.

Maybe there needs to be some regulation: set a maximum number of years, set a minimum payment, and clarify that the management company either puts the artist to work, or fully releases them.

[schizofragile.livejournal.com]

WOW LOL. SM's gotta clean up this mess or else they're screwed. I wonder if the Supreme Court will be influenced by SM though. I feel like they're gonna resort to desperate actions (bribing, perhaps?) just so they can win this.

[cintamati.livejournal.com]

IT IS SO SAD.

SM having the most successful artists and LSM is being a BULLSHITER.
the artist deserves what they should.
LSM should change his bloody policies and their contracts.

i think under the law, the exclusion clause is never a valid one.
but somehow, LSM covered everything up so nicely.
1 thing i must say is that, he totally got himself a good lawyer to tidy up the contract for his artists.

but is this lawyer good enough now?
I DONT THINK SO LSM.
(be prepared to come out with a new reasonable contract soon)

hope DBSK win this case!
HWAITING!

[bitmoo.livejournal.com]

Hmm. *sighs* This whole thing worries me so much.
I can't help thinking, though, that some of them got it even worse.

Let's take, for instance, Super Junior.

Look at Henry and Zhou Mi. They're only part of the Super Junior M. Hello, that's a SUB group. Which means, besides this 'adorable' SM slavery contract, they are earning less money (cuz you know,all other members are on the main group, so more activities = more incoming), and since they're stuck with SM, they probably can't do some other works :|

And of course, I can't leave out the part where they are constantly bashed by antifans/ONLY13s and getting their faces BLURRED OUT OF PHOTOS (http://i946.photobucket.com/albums/ad301/bitgeek/604aa91852e56e2f34fa4101.jpg). So, that's quite a nice combination. A shitty treatment from both their producers and fans 8D now that must be a happy life. Those two must have the patience of a saint. Not to mention a real -love- for what they do. :/

I worry about all of SM boys, and I hope this all this ends well. But whenever I think about Henry and Mi's situation, my heart hurts :(

[myiuchan.livejournal.com]

Inorite, this are my exactly thoughts. Boys must really love what they do. (or they can't go away because of SM's contract, idk) DDDDD: