Lee Seung-gi Wins Lawsuit Against Former Agency
Apr 08, 2025
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Big Planet Made Entertainment, the agency, said on the 8th that the Plaintiff (Hook Entertainment) failed to pay the settlement amount and provide the settlement data is an act of destroying the high degree of trust formed between the Plaintiff and the Defendant by intentionally or at least grossly negligent in failing to properly fulfill the obligation to settle the record and music revenues to the Defendant (Lee Seung-ki)."
This means that Hook Entertainment had a legal and contractual obligation to provide Lee Seung-ki with settlement data, but has not implemented it for more than 10 years, and the judiciary admitted that this behavior was intentional or gross negligence, destroying the trust relationship with the artist.
In addition, according to the ruling, the defendant, who had a high degree of trust in the plaintiff while the plaintiff was exclusively managing the defendant's record and music revenue, could not have easily seen that the settlement bond for the record and music revenue occurred when the plaintiff was not properly fulfilling the obligation to manage the settlement data for the record and music revenue, prepare the settlement statement, and provide settlement data. With the agency exclusively managing record and music revenues, Lee Seung-ki, his singer, admitted that it was not easy to judge the transparency of the settlement details.
Earlier in 2022, Lee Seung-ki sent a proof of the fact that he had not settled the music revenue for 18 years at Hook Entertainment, which has been involved since his debut, and that he had not received settlement data and settlement money, and notified him of the termination of the exclusive contract.
Since then, Hook Entertainment has filed a lawsuit to confirm the existence of a debt, claiming the return of 900 million won on the grounds that it has settled too much advertising revenue after paying about 5.4 billion won in self-calculated settlement.
In response, in the first trial of the settlement lawsuit held on the 4th, the court ruled in favor of Lee Seung-ki and ruled that `Hook Entertainment should pay Lee an additional 581 million won.'
While continuing legal disputes over settlement payments with his former agency, Lee Seung-ki directly appealed, saying, `I ask that juniors who started their activities at a young age like me not suffer.' He led to legislation of the so-called 「Act on Prevention of the Development of Popular Culture and Arts」, which imposes an obligation for entertainment agencies to provide their artists with settlement details and accounting details at least once a year \(including electronic documents).
As such, the court's ruling is expected to serve as another wake-up call for unfair contract practices in the entertainment industry and a less transparent settlement system in the future.
silk781220@sportschosun.com
