DSP reveals Kara's income and contract info

[gloomyclock.livejournal.com]

Three days after Seungyeon, Hara, and Jiyoung filed the lawsuit, the agency’s legal representatives have released an official statement refuting the girls’ claims.

On the morning of February 17th, DSP Media’s legal representative, Im Sang Hyuk, spoke with Star News and stated, “It’s said that the lawsuit was filed on February 14th, but it was actually filed on the 11th. Their accusation has not arrived yet, but DSP Media will be preparing to take legal action.  This case is different in various ways from the TVXQ lawsuit.” (Im is also the lawyer for JYJ against SM Entertainment.)

He continued, “The representatives of the three KARA members claimed that each member only received $860 USD from January through June of 2010 from album sales made during their ‘Lupin‘ promotions.  Their claim made it seem as if this amount was all that the members received for their income during this time period, but they are hiding the accurate truth.”

Im continued, “Aside from their album sales, KARA was distributed a total of $200,000 USD per member from income made through CFs, events, broadcast appearances, digital sales, and mobile sales.”

DSP Media’s lawyer further revealed that all promotional expenses were taken out from the income made through their album sales, and the girls were given a total of $1 million USD during this promotional period, which was divided into $200,000 USD per member.
Im further claims that Landmark’s demands for a change in administration was an invasion of DSP Media’s administration rights. “After Lee Ho Yeon CEO was hospitalized, his wife received full administrative rights and successfully advanced KARA into Japan.  She has done absolutely nothing wrong.  Because of this, Landmark demanding that the company change administrators is an invasion of DSP Media’s right of management.”

He continued, “KARA’s contracts have already passed the evaluation review by the Fair Trade Commission.  There is nothing wrong with their contracts, which is why we believe that Landmark is acting as if these three members experienced a loss in their income.”
Im concluded, “We will continue to attempt discussions, but now that the three members have already taken legal action, we will be responding in the same manner.”


Source: Star News via Naver (1) (2) and allkpop

This is kind of confusing but I guess they're saying that even though they don't make much from album sales, they still make a lot from other activities. They didn't say much about Japan though, which seems to be the real problem.

Comments

[jeit91.livejournal.com]

200,000 seems like a lot...or is it just me?

[queefing.livejournal.com]

depends how much dsp made off them in comparsion

[gyuri.livejournal.com]

it is. Landmark looks really dumb rn.

[sparklop.livejournal.com]

stll loling @ JYJ's lawyer being DSP's lawyer.

[crazyxcami.livejournal.com]

mte.
the irony.

[gyuri.livejournal.com]

preeetty much. Unless they pull out some magic.

[gyuri.livejournal.com]

Land Mark u look kinda dumb rn…

[xcherryblossomx.livejournal.com]

I wonder what Shirley has to say about this

[gyuri.livejournal.com]

everything
but it will make little to no sense

[qrizta.livejournal.com]

$200k can help my parents pay all their business debts, my bachelor tuition fee, and the rest can be used for a lot of things that I can't think of right now.

[rosetta16.livejournal.com]

Sp JYJ lawyer is DPS lawyer……. That’s weird………. I knew law school was the best choice ($$$$$)

[goodtimes822.livejournal.com]

HAHA. MTE. Why I left Political Science now boggles me~
Just wondering, are you in law school right now? :)

[taylorniw.livejournal.com]

If this is legitimate, they already look more foolish than before. Anyone who lies and complains about their 200k salary (just from Japan) will receive zero sympathy from me.

The three members don't seem to have much of a case. Only way I can see them leaving DSP would be to pay the fee to break their contract, and something tells me it's probably not all that cheap.

I feel like the other threes parents are playing a big role in this and it makes you wonder just what the other company offered them to make them lie about their salaries and treatment (and tbh it seems more like them and not DSP are the ones in the wrong).

It doesn't help them in the public eye when their parents sound like morons looking for people to blame.

[taylorniw.livejournal.com]

Also I hope everyone knows that album and single sales really are a blip in terms of profit. Most of the real money comes from tv appearances, cfs, and that sort of thing.

[qrizta.livejournal.com]

From the previous Landmark's claims, it's obvious that they made a fuss from album sales which is never the main source of income for idols. However, iirc they also made some complaints about the income distribution from japanese promotion which is not addressed here.

I wonder how the KARA 3 will be able to work comfortably under DSPE after such legal mess.

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

damn, kara 3 and landmark are looking really bad rn if this is true.

also, i think that shirley and seungyeon's dad are my new OTP.

[kazu-kumaguro.livejournal.com]

LOL

make a fanfic please!

[runandtelldat.livejournal.com]

L.O.L.

[supersiska.livejournal.com]

ot, but lololol i scrolled real fast, saw the red and tongue action, and thought it was kelly.

[oonalala.livejournal.com]

So DSP basically confirms that what Kara said about what they were paid for album sales is true, but wants to distract you by trotting out some larger number for payments unrelated to album sales. Also, DSP is making all these statements refuting Kara's claims while "their accusation has not yet arrived." Does this mean DSP doesn't know what charges have been filed yet? So they are just releasing whatever information publically that they think will make them look good and in return make the Kara 3 look bad by comparison.

Not cool.

[taylorniw.livejournal.com]

It seems like they're responding to the accusations already made by Kara, their parents, or the media. It's possible that the lawsuit may file more complaints.

[raiha-kasep.livejournal.com]

This is kind of confusing but I guess they're saying that even though they don't make much from album sales, they still make a lot from other activities. They didn't say much about Japan though, which seems to be the real problem.

cf is really make a lot of money you know,,
X3

[qrizta.livejournal.com]

OMG ur icon!!!! <3

[toomanysides.livejournal.com]

I knew this would happen. Anyone who thought that KARA only made $860 total, had reading comprehension fail and is an idiot. Albums are never the primary source of income. However, landmark claims were that the expenses that DSP claimed were unusually high (like 90%+) and was deduced from KARA's potential income. DSP refused to give them transparent accounting reports when the parents asked to see the receipts.

This is a big fucking mess. DSP claimed earlier that KARA made 300k total this year, half which has not been paid yet. If 200k is only for Lupin promotion... are they saying them promoting in Japan AND Korea made them half the money yet they worked harder and sold more? So if they continued like this KARA would make less promoting in Japan?

Whether 200k is "a lot" is irrelevant, really. You can still do shady (Hollywood type) accounting and still pay a lot.

In the end, I am sure Landmark is being paid too much for their shitty work.

[gyuri.livejournal.com]

Landmark looks really really dumb rn.

And DSP did say they were going to do the transparent accounting now.

[cherrypop.livejournal.com]

$200,000?

If that's true this case is closed. No one will want to support it any further. :\ I certainly wouldn't. Like someone else said, someone who receives $200 K receives zero sympathy from me.

[hyonimilk.livejournal.com]

Until DSP shows us the how much money was made in total and what it was spent on this means absolutely nothing. Just a clever way to rally public favor by saying that the girls make a lot more than you so don't feel bad for them.

[myrobotvoice.livejournal.com]

back up dancers, coordis, food, clothing, lodging (in country and abroad), music videos, the company itself. ALL THESE THINGS (and more, i couldn't think of them) COST MONEY.

...and they still walk away with $200,000 a piece.

i would say that's still pretty great. but then again, what do i know.

[erbalurbal.livejournal.com]

I don't know what people are expecting these idols to make. Kara don't have great sales and I am sure DSP have been taking a loss for years with them.

[a-perfect-shade.livejournal.com]

so KARA is huge in japan and korea and that's all they get for selling their sweat and souls? no thank you idol industry.

[itendtoflail.livejournal.com]

Next Kara post better be a breakdown of expenses or something.

[karatefeelings.livejournal.com]

Three days after Seungyeon, Hara, and Jiyoung filed the lawsuit, the agency’s legal representatives have released an official statement refuting the girls’ claims.

Wait..so the three Kara members involved are those and not Seungyeon, Jiyoung n Nicole now?

And...maybe the 200k was the accumulation of money DSP gave them ever since they've debuted? Idk, alternative reasons for them to say what they said.

[midnitemaraud-r.livejournal.com]

It's also $200,000 before taxes. I have no idea what their tax rates are over there though.

Is $200,000 a lot of money? Sure, for you and me. But they also work a lot more than we do. They're not working 40 or 50 or even 60 hour weeks, don't have weekends/days off or a lot of vacation time. Plus, we don't know the bottom line - i.e. the percentage of the split in profits. A million dollars is a lot of money, but if the net profit was 10 million, that's only 10%.

Don't be so quick to pass judgment. There's a lot we don't know, and might not ever know. It would also help if we knew exactly what the papers Landmark filed actually say and what they're asking for for relief.

[umbrella-smile.livejournal.com]

There are people who work harder, not in the entertainment industry, and make less than $30,000 a year. That isn't counting people who work hard labor in 3rd world countries for .20cents an hour. IF they are lucky.

I am really sick of people, who make a substantial of money, demanding more.

[aya-sama3000.livejournal.com]

Dear Landmark and Kara 3 parents,

Take a gun and proceed to shoot yourselves in the foot...
cuz DSP got the papers and FTC said their contracts were fair...

[umbrella-smile.livejournal.com]

Take a gun and proceed to shoot yourselves in the foot

Sadly they have taken aim at their daughter's feet.