KARA dispute continues
Looks like the KARA saga continues…
With recent events, 3 members of KARA have made another surprise u-turn, escalating the previous contract termination dispute into a legal battle. Representatives of Nicole, JiYoung and Seungyeon filed for an official lawsuit against DSP Media on February 14th to investigate the validity of their exclusive contracts. The three members voiced out through their legal representatives that, “without prior compromise, the agency has deducted promotional fees from our income (classified under embezzlement). From January through June of 2010, we brought in $410,000 USD in income while the promotional expenses amounted to $390,000 USD. These expenses are abnormally excessive.”
Three days later, DSP Media’s legal representative refuted the statement by stating that, “all promotional expenses were deducted only from income made through their album sales of Lupin. Aside from their album sales, KARA were distributed profits from income made through CFs, events, broadcast appearances, digital sales, and mobile sales. A total of $1 million USD was given out during the promotional period, divided into $200,000 USD equally per member.”
Seems like we are getting two different statements from both sides. Is a legal battle imminent?
However, on February 18th, President of the Korean Singers Association, Tae Jin Ah told Asia Economy that he had received feedback from both parties’ lawyer representatives and will try to personally reconcile the dispute between the three members of KARA and their agency, DSP Media today, on February 19th.
The trio of KARA have chosen to be represented by Kim Jin Wook from Hankyul Law Firm, who had prior experience working on and winning Han Geng’s (Super Junior) lawsuit against SM Entertainment while DSP Media is currently backed by Im Sang Hyuk, who is currently the legal representative for JYJ against SM Entertainment.
