The year is about to end and yet another lawsuit is shaking the K-pop world. Idol group B.A.P has reportedly filed a lawsuit, citing unfair treatment from their managing agency TS Entertainment, allkpop reports.
X-Sports News exclusively reported that all six members of the K-pop group have filed to nullify their contract with their agency. The suit was reportedly filed on November 26, 2014.
According to the report, B.A.P's contract was designed only for the benefit of TS Entertainment and was seen as disadvantageous to the members. Apart from the length of the contract, each of the idols allegedly received only 18 million KRW (16,000 USD) for the past three years the group has been active.
The contract holds the idols to the agency for more than 7 years and started to take effect not on the date of signing but on the release of their first album, SBS reports. The website noted that the period is significantly longer compared to that of other agencies and that the contract did not include terms dictated by the Fair Trade Commission.
According to SBS, the statement allegedly claims the contracts are not following the rules on civil rights protection, explicit content, and right to personal privacy of artists from their companies.
Since their debut in 2012, B.A.P. has already released a total of 11 albums and has travelled to Japan, China, Mexico, and Australia for promotions without a break, to the point that their busy schedule has taken a toll on their health.
It can be recalled that TS Entertainment previously cancelled the group's South American tour weeks prior to the event, saying health problems of the idols.
The same day the news broke, the agency released an official statement, which reads,
"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."
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