Court approves provisional injunction to preserve status of HYBE subsidiary ADOR against ”NewJeans” (Comprehensive)

The court ruled that HYBE subsidiary ADOR had filed a lawsuit against five members of the girl group NewJeans, asking for provisional injunctions to "preserve the status of the planning company and prohibit the signing of advertising contracts, etc."
On the 21st, the Seoul Central District Court, Civil Division 50 (Judge Kim Sang-hoon) ruled that “the creditor (ADOR) is in the position of a management company based on an exclusive contract,
The court preliminarily determined that the debtor ("NewJeans") must not engage in any performing arts activities without the creditor's prior approval or consent.
Last November, NewJeans held a press conference to notify ADOR of the termination of their exclusive contract, and decided to change their group name to "NJZ" and begin their independent activities.
In response, ADOR filed an application for a provisional injunction on January 6th to maintain the status of the planning company and to prohibit it from entering into advertising contracts.
The members of "New Jeans" are filling the production void following the dismissal of formerADOR's CEO Min Hee Jin.
Concerns, the statement by then CEO Park Ji-won that "NewJeans members will be given a long vacation," and the statement in the music report dated May 10, 2023 that "New
"Just throw it away and make a new project," says director Shin Woo-seok and ADOR in dispute, BELIFT
Attempt by LAB affiliate group ILLIT to infringe on the originality of "NewJeans"
Jeans member HANI was told to "ignore" by a manager at BELIFT LAB, and a PR representative from HYBE made a comment disparaging the success of "New Jeans."
The court rejected all 11 grounds for termination of the contract, including the above. The court stated, "First, ADOR had not paid NewJeans any important obligations under the exclusive contract, such as settlement obligations.
In light of the circumstances surrounding the contract termination notice from NewJeans, ADOR was unable to carry out its management duties due to the members' unilateral contract termination notice.
"Even if ADOR had some shortcomings in fulfilling its contractual obligations, there is no evidence that ADOR's breach of obligations was repeated or continued for a long period of time,"
At this stage, when the agreement has not been approved, it is difficult to conclude that the relationship of trust has been broken. Furthermore, if a member unilaterally withdraws from the contractual relationship, ADOR will suffer significant losses.
In addition, if the members were to work under a new group name ("NJZ"), it would be detrimental to not only the brand value of "NewJeans" but also to ADOR's management company.
"There is also a risk of significant damage to NewJeans' reputation. Taking these points into consideration, we recognize the need to issue a provisional injunction banning NewJeans' activities and commercial activities prior to the ruling on the merits."
NewJeans was scheduled to perform as a headliner at COMPLEX CON in Hong Kong on the 23rd under the group name NJZ and release a new song.
However, the court ruled in favor of the provisional injunction, and the group will now take to the stage as "NewJeans." ADOR said, "Our status as the management office of 'NewJeans' has been legally confirmed.
Therefore, we will continue to do our utmost to support artists in the future," and "We are working on-site to ensure that this weekend's Hong Kong 'COMPLEX CON' performance will be held as 'NewJeans' under ADOR.
"We plan to provide as much support as possible," the NewJeans said. "We decided to participate after careful consideration in order to avoid any unforeseen circumstances for fans and related parties who are looking forward to the concert."
It was announced.