Court Rules "Cannot Hold Production Company Responsible for Unauthorized Sale of BTS Magazine"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] A court ruling has stated that even if magazines related to BTS, which their agency has prohibited from production and sale, are being sold on platforms like Amazon, the manufacturer cannot be held responsible if they did not distribute the magazines themselves.

According to the legal community on the 23rd, Judge Junghoon Yoo of the Civil Division 206 at the Seoul Central District Court accepted the plaintiff's claim in an objection lawsuit regarding the enforcement document filed by Company A against Big Hit Entertainment, BTS's agency.

The court acknowledged that the BTS magazines produced by Company A were posted in a state available for sale on platforms like Amazon, but it was difficult to consider that Company A directly distributed or sold them.

The court stated, "Unless it is proven that Company A supplied the magazines to a third party, it cannot be considered that Company A violated the obligation of non-action set by the indirect enforcement decision due to the third party selling the magazines."

Previously, Big Hit Entertainment filed an indirect enforcement application demanding Company A pay 30 million KRW per day, claiming that Company A violated the obligation set by a settlement recommendation decision prohibiting the production and sale of BTS-related products. The court accepted this application in May of last year.

Subsequently, Big Hit Entertainment claimed that Company A distributed magazines for six days after the indirect enforcement decision and applied to the court for the issuance of an enforcement document for compulsory execution, which was approved within a total limit of 180 million KRW at 30 million KRW per day.

However, Company A countered by stating that it had not produced or sold magazines after the indirect enforcement decision and requested the cancellation of the enforcement document issuance, seeking the court’s judgment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.