Court invalidates 'slave-like contract' for entertainers

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

Woo Sung-hyun [Kevin] of U-Kiss

The Supreme Court upheld a ruling that long-term contracts between entertainers and their agencies are unfair and therefore invalid.

The top court Friday invalidated a contract putting an entertainer under the control of his agency for as long as a decade, saying the contract restricted freedom.

This verdict is expected to put the brakes on entertainment agencies' long-established practice of controlling its stars for as long as possible with slave-like contracts.

Woo Sung-hyun [Kevin], a 20-year-old member of popular boy band U-Kiss, filed a suit in 2008 challenging his contract, calling it "unfair."

In 2006, Woo signed with the agency, Xing Entertainment, a 10-year contract that stipulated if his performances were suspended due to health problems or mandatory military service, the inactive period would be added to the term.

Any acts violating the terms cost the singer a financial penalty three times the agency's investment in him, according to the contract.

A district court ruled in favor of Woo, saying, "The first ten years after his debut album constitute virtually his entire life as a singer. Given the nature of the industry, the contract term is unfair and excessively infringes upon his rights."

An appellate court upheld the decision.

Such excessively binding contracts in the showbiz industry came to light when three members of the popular boy band TVXQ filed a suit against its agency, SM Entertainment, to invalidate what they called "life-long slave contracts."

The three ㅡ Micky, Xiah and Hero ㅡ claimed their agency prohibited their freedom as artists by forcing them to follow the agency’s demands to appear at certain performances and broadcasts for 13 years. The litigation is still underway.

The dispute led to the country's fair trade watchdog drawing up guidelines for entertainer-agency contracts, which set the maximum length at seven years. They also ban an agency's excessive intervention into employees' private lives.

Source: Park Si-soo @ The Korea Times

ETA: Note that those FTC guidelines are just recommendations, so getting an actual supreme court ruling that can be used as an example case and which cannot be appealed for any further is really important for similar court cases.

Comments

[cher-ex3.livejournal.com]

Where's that gif of Phoebe saying "This is brand new information" when you need it.

[maximumtimo.livejournal.com]

[death-folder.livejournal.com]

do you feel the same way about divorce?

[ayumikoshiro.livejournal.com]

Ummm.... I guess this is good news for the peoples of SM. Since it held up even in the highest court. SM should just give it up already.

[miyavi-type.livejournal.com]

Woo Sung-hyun [Kevin], a 20-year-old member of popular boy band U-Kiss, filed a suit in 2008 challenging his contract, calling it "unfair."
Then why'd you sign it, stupid.

[erichuu.livejournal.com]

mte :\

[emiliecious.livejournal.com]

This is good news... although it's sad that it came too late for JaeChunSu and Geng ):

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

Uh, I don't think the final judgment has been made either of the cases? Also this means that if SM wins, the boys can probably appeal based on this example case while if SM loses, SM probably cannot appeal for a higher court.

[sparklop.livejournal.com]

Now make some legislation and enforce it...cause i doubt anything is going to change unless they really are forced to change

[baboboy.livejournal.com]

Such excessively binding contracts in the showbiz industry came to light when three members of the popular boy band TVXQ filed a suit against its agency, SM Entertainment, to invalidate what they called "life-long slave contracts."

:DDDDDD

[music3chick.livejournal.com]

exactly <3
love them

[under-an-oak.livejournal.com]

Okay, so the Supreme Court and the appellate court are holding this decision. How does this affect the JYJ lawsuit against SM? Hankyung's? Does Korean law recognise legal precedents? Argh!

[under-an-oak.livejournal.com]

And to those who wonder at Kevin's "stupidity" at signing in the first place, keep in mind that you don't know the situation wherein he signed it. Nor JYJ. Nor Hangeng. Add to that that this are KOREANS. Their culture is vastly different from other Asian cultures (as are any cultures different from each other) whereby Confucianism is followed to a degree that would be found strange by a non-Korean. For god's sake people, one of their major airlines had the most aircrashes at one point and it was determined that in most of those cases, it was because the co-pilot DID NOT DARE to speak up against the pilot, who is usually OLDER.

People DIED.

So before you call Kevin stupid (and keeping in mind that Xing made a MINOR SIGN A BINDING AGREEMENT), take all these into consideration.

[kioku-korekutaa.livejournal.com]

ia.

yay for kevin :') and...

[kioku-korekutaa.livejournal.com]

They also ban an agency's excessive intervention into employees' private lives.

Re: yay for kevin :') and...

[kittycurious.livejournal.com]

Idols with bfs/gfs in the future? :D

Unlikely, since fans will still be batshit insane, but now maybe the agencies won't get so much control.

[mishi07.livejournal.com]

5-7 years sounds fair in re: to SM's claim on ROI. And imo, if you treat your artists well, they will stay for 10 20 30 years. :|

Aren't there labor laws on kids in Korea? Their ways are really strange tbh.

[sold-my-seoul.livejournal.com]

Op could've at least used a better picture of Kevin.

[kittycurious.livejournal.com]

Glad to see the courts are siding with the idols on these contracts.

[risu-risu.livejournal.com]

every time one of these posts comes up, there's always that argument about why people signed the contracts in the first place. i think what isn't always taken into account is how contracts can be written. purposefully misleading language, loops holes, & legal jargon can make something appear to be a better deal than it is. people get screwed over in all sorts of contracts because they can be written in a manner that isn't as easily understood to the average person. even the most seemingly mundane contracts are rarely written in a cut & dry manner. even then, without seeing the contract it's hard to judge how "obvious" the terms were.

taking that into account, as well as how young some of these people involved were when the contracts were signed, i can see how they might not realize how severe the terms are until afterwards.

[sold-my-seoul.livejournal.com]

1+

[purpleglaceon]

This is at least a year old or something

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

Uh, this ruling came out this Friday in Korea.

[youinmyjumpsuit.livejournal.com]

To the haters, you guys are just lucky you have a different dream in this life. If you were in their shoes, you would want to do everything possible to attain your dream of becoming an idol

[shodrive.livejournal.com]

If you were in their shoes, you would want to do everything possible to attain your dream of becoming an idol.

this.

[iheartomntd.livejournal.com]

It's a good thing I'm at work and don't have much time to argue but some of the comments in here make me shake my damn head.

[luckyredshirt.livejournal.com]

uhhh yay?

[gwishin.livejournal.com]

I'm tired of hearing "why did they sign a contract in the first place only to break it?"

Not all contracts are fair. One signature, a stroke of the pen, should not bind an artist’s freedom for 13 years (15, if accounting for the 2 years of obligatory military service for most South Korean males). Of course, everyone should try to fulfill their end of the signed contracts to the best of their abilities. However, should they want out because they feel that their contract is unfair and infringes on their human rights, they should be able to seek legal ways of breaking the contract. That is why laws exist: for both the enforcement and the breaking of contracts.

[lilykt7.livejournal.com]

ia

[beauty0fparting.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered why people sign these contracts. But I could sort of see how it could be a good thing. I mean, it's easier to fix the unfair practices of these agencies from the inside when you're famous and actually have a little influence than when you're a nobody. I could also imagine the desperation the youngsters go through that if they don't sign and suffer a little, they can't ever break into the industry.

[gwishin.livejournal.com]

IA

It appears that most artist contracts are structured similarly to that of Kevin's. If that's the case, there's only two options available: sign an unfair contract and actually have a shot at becoming a singer or don't sign and don't become a singer. There's no third option. If Kevin wanted to be a singer, he had to sign. No one put a gun to his head but the way the music industry works in Korea has narrowed his path to the point where there was only one road he could take if he wanted to pursue his dreams.

[royalantares.livejournal.com]

The choices were: sign this crappy contract or walk away and never be a singer. If they found out later that the contract isn't legal or infringes their rights, why not take it to court?

[iluvkidnappers.livejournal.com]

lol bitches who are getting mad at them for signing i cant even... like someone said, younger people don't fucking dare to speak up against the older generations. If you're a 12 year old and your parents/the agency are telling you if you sign then you have a shot at making it they're not gonna fucking say no in front of them. jfc culture difference people!

[iluvkidnappers.livejournal.com]

in the case of Hangeng he filed because of the fucking health problems he got as a result of his contract. That's not what anybody signs up for, regardless of whether or not they're young or naive.

[lilykt7.livejournal.com]

junhyungs a boss like that.

[chihiropi.livejournal.com]

It's a shame, these kids sign these contracts young, without really realizing what they'll be giving up.

It's a shame that they want to follow their dreams, and becoming idols and signing these ridiculous contracts seems to be one of the probably easiest ways to do it.

I hope that things change for all current idols, and all future ones as well.