General

Big Bang has an unfair contract?

by delacroix on October 20, 2009 at 1:15 am

Entertainment companies, including YG Entertainment, were ordered to correct their unfair contracts after a government inspection by the Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC).

FTC announced on the 20th that 198 contracts between an entertainer and their company were corrected after their inspection on 20 entertainment companies. The inspection was carried out from April to May of this year.

For example, YG deleted the clause that reads “After the day that the contract between the company and the entertainer ends, the company is relieved from the duty to pay royalties from recorded materials to the entertainer and all proceeds from said materials belong to the company,” meaning that YG’s entertainers can now receive royalties from the songs they made with YG even after they leave the company. YG also changed the clause that reads “Entertainer must receive permission of the company in order to travel outside of Korea” to “Entertainer must inform of their out-of-country travel plans to the company beforehand to not cause any disruptions in management planning process,” meaning that YG’s entertainers like Big Bang and 2NE1 now may travel outside of the country without YG’s permissions.

Entertainers are now given the right to retire at will as well. “Entertainer may not cease performance or retire during the life of the contract without permission of the company” was changed to “If entertainer seeks to cease performance or retire during the life of the contract, the company and the entertainer may discuss the topic.” “Entertainer must use their talent and skills in accordance with the company’s decisions” was changed to “Entertainer must perform by fully employing their talent and skill, and the company must aid the entertainer with appropriate opportunities,” giving entertainers a bit more legal freedom with their decision making.

Overall, clauses that overly invade an entertainer’s privacy, invade an entertainer’s right to be a part of the decision making process for their career and performances, and clauses that force entertainers to perform for the company’s promotional activities without compensation and without consent of the entertainer were corrected.

This is a step towards a better environment for Korean entertainers, but this is just a small step. Merely 20 entertainment companies were inspected and corrected, as 320 companies under Korean Entertainment Producers Association were not a part of this inspection. FTC acknowledges the fact that unfair contracts are common in the entertainment industry and plans on directing the association in inspecting and correcting its members. It may be hard to imagine SM giving freedom to its entertainers, especially after the whole Kangin fiasco, but one day SNSD will be free to travel to Canada, to hang out with me without having to receive SM’s approval. One day.

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discussion 142comments

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  1. swt_turtle - October 24, 2009 at 10:04 PM | #
    142

    So YG Family can hang with me in Canada now? Yes! One step at a time… >:D

  2. myTOP - October 24, 2009 at 10:16 AM | #
    141

    gee…

  3. enipi - October 22, 2009 at 11:25 PM | #
    140

    wow! so great!

  4. KTZ811 - October 21, 2009 at 2:22 PM | #
    139

    Great, now all they need to do is add one more requirement: Big Bang and 2NE1 must perform in Hawai’i, please. (;

  5. Maeve Kitsune - October 21, 2009 at 1:51 PM | #
    138

    alrite! YG is corrected!! now go n kick SME’s ass!!

  6. kathlynchan - October 21, 2009 at 5:37 AM | #
    137

    good.

  7. anaBAEMIN - October 21, 2009 at 5:20 AM | #
    136

    woo! i wish bigbang could visit the philippines. ’cause there are many VIPs there. even if we dont understand they’re songs :”) LOL xD

  8. DBSKfangirl - October 21, 2009 at 12:10 AM | #
    135

    @ 102: Well…. It’s majorly LSM who’s being the greedy.. person… Yeah, I agree that SM should change their contracts though.. I mean, there’s a reason why DBSK took them to court XD

  9. big bang fighting - October 20, 2009 at 11:09 PM | #
    134

    I HOPE THEY COME TO AMERICA!!!!! :D

  10. xsharetheworld - October 20, 2009 at 10:22 PM | #
    133

    Holyfriggincrap. . .

  11. pandacolour - October 20, 2009 at 9:58 PM | #
    132

    YG rocks. D: I loveeee YG entertainment.

  12. MaVivienne - October 20, 2009 at 9:48 PM | #
    131

    wow. good thing they changed thosepolicies

  13. leejihae - October 20, 2009 at 9:23 PM | #
    130

    whooot. way to go yggg

  14. jooolaybullay - October 20, 2009 at 9:19 PM | #
    129

    okayy soo?

  15. baubrey1001 - October 20, 2009 at 9:03 PM | #
    128

    wow.

  16. Tea. - October 20, 2009 at 6:49 PM | #
    127

    now all we have to do is wait for SM to follow YG footsteps and all will be right in the world ..
    how about they let EVERYONE come to CANADA :D TORONTOOOOOO~~

  17. 7cinta - October 20, 2009 at 6:29 PM | #
    126

    Good job YG….hopefully SM will follow your lead….one day….hopefully. =P

  18. Anapau - October 20, 2009 at 6:06 PM | #
    125

    come on come on Big Bang
    too Mexicoooo!!!

  19. starsplum - October 20, 2009 at 5:55 PM | #
    124

    If they did this earlier with SM, then DBSK’s lawsuit might not have taken place…

  20. PixieJJC - October 20, 2009 at 5:31 PM | #
    123

    Who were the 20 companies? O.O I hope it was ALL major ones like SM, YG, and JYP! It’s about time these changes were made. Contracts are more like death sentences… oh wait… you might need the COMPANIES’ permission to die first! O.o

  21. Wuntun1 - October 20, 2009 at 5:10 PM | #
    122

    wow thats a lot O.O
    “but one day SNSD will be free to travel to Canada, to hang out with me without having to receive SM’s approval. One day.” no no no with me one day LOL

  22. WoAiNiHaru - October 20, 2009 at 4:59 PM | #
    121

    That’s good, Im glad some changes are finally being made. (:

  23. Minzilla - October 20, 2009 at 4:54 PM | #
    120

    at least 2ne1 and BB are now able to do things a bit more freely without Mr.YG bossing them around.

  24. Em!Ly - October 20, 2009 at 4:32 PM | #
    119

    well, YG ARTISTS PLEASE COME TO AMERICA IN MARYLAND!

  25. Baa - October 20, 2009 at 3:04 PM | #
    118

    I love it. :D I’m so glad that YG is willing to tweak their contracts to fit something more pleasing. Hopefully other companies follow this example.

  26. DoubleJMan - October 20, 2009 at 12:30 PM | #
    117

    Woot I agree! Come to Canada!!!!

  27. mangatang2809 - October 20, 2009 at 11:50 AM | #
    116

    glad bigband and YG fam have some freedom- now i just hope that the same will happen for SM ent- so that DBSK can make their come back and so that my beloved groups dont get as tired as they do get <3

  28. tomatomc - October 20, 2009 at 11:24 AM | #
    115

    come to msia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  29. Swt*Lunatic - October 20, 2009 at 11:16 AM | #
    114

    This is better…a step at a time huh~ ;p

  30. AiDao - October 20, 2009 at 10:26 AM | #
    113

    And why is it so hard for TVXQ to have their contract fixed when these boys didn’t even complain about their contract and it was amended. I hope that TVXQ’s contract will be resolved to their benefit like this one was good for Big Bang.

  31. L0v3 - October 20, 2009 at 10:10 AM | #
    112

    BIG BANG — DALLAS TX …. NOW!!!!!! :) you have sooooo many fans here!!! :)

  32. ur.my.antidrug - October 20, 2009 at 9:45 AM | #
    111

    when they do come to canada…will you call me up so that i can see them also ;D

  33. Marciaaa - October 20, 2009 at 9:16 AM | #
    110

    That’s really great!

  34. popcrunch - October 20, 2009 at 9:08 AM | #
    109

    Thats cool :) …

  35. CandyCrust - October 20, 2009 at 9:03 AM | #
    108

    @103. LMAO. :D

    I think its good that the contracts & clauses were revised. It should be done more regularly.

  36. vhienxiah - October 20, 2009 at 9:03 AM | #
    107

    good good! ^^

  37. Icebunny33 - October 20, 2009 at 8:28 AM | #
    106

    Wow this is one huge step in the right direction! Hopefully this will work to help TVXQ with their lawsuit against SM.

  38. vampire_miyuRI - October 20, 2009 at 8:25 AM | #
    105

    yg is the best company in terms of talents and treatment! ^_^
    yg is great!

  39. Neoteros - October 20, 2009 at 8:21 AM | #
    104

    I am glad YG changed some policies…
    YG Family FIGHTING xD

  40. blackdice1803 - October 20, 2009 at 8:06 AM | #
    103

    the fact that YG agree to change those terms prove that they’re really good to their entertainers. And from my point of view, if the entertainers can go anywhere without asking the cpmpany, it is a little unfair for the company, too, lol. How will they deal with so many complaints from fans and broadcasting companies if entertainers have schedule but running away :)). BB can now run away without fearing Seung ri’s betrayal :))

  41. BlingBlingYunho - October 20, 2009 at 7:37 AM | #
    102

    yo YG is so cool they change their contract b/c they want the best 4 their employees but efing SM is so gay! look wat its doing 2 poor dbsk? i mean if dbsk wasnt there SM would SUCK….they would be no were near were they r now….such greedy SM

  42. HotSauce - October 20, 2009 at 7:35 AM | #
    101

    Yeee SNSD to Canada! woot woot! maybe one day lol