The FiftyFifty Incident Reaches the National Assembly... Ha Tae-kyung Says "Will Create the Fifty Act"

Amid growing public calls for sanctions against 'tampering' (pre-contact during exclusive contract periods) following the so-called 'Fifty Fifty' incident, Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, announced that he would "propose the Fifty Fifty Act."

On the 29th, Ha stated on his social media (SNS), "We are discussing amendments to the 'Popular Culture and Arts Development Act' with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to protect small and medium-sized enterprises and provide institutional support in the field of popular culture and arts," signaling his intention to propose the bill.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Ha described the Fifty Fifty incident as "a producer, who was merely an outsourced production company, persuading girl group members to terminate their contracts and join his own agency," adding, "From the company's perspective, it was like an external force invading and filing a parental rights lawsuit to change the registration of their children."

He further pointed out, "In manufacturing, various systems such as patents and trade secret regulations protect products well. However, the entertainment industry is different," noting, "Since most activities like music and advertising involve people themselves becoming the product, the industry falls into a blind spot of the system."

He said, "We aim to strengthen government-level protection and support so that small and medium-sized agencies can safely conduct their business, and through this, promote the qualitative growth of K-pop," promising to disclose detailed contents once the bill is drafted.

Meanwhile, Yoo In-chon, Special Advisor for Culture and Sports to the Presidential Office, held discussions with major domestic entertainment organizations regarding the Fifty Fifty incident. The entertainment industry plans to initiate follow-up discussions to establish sanctions against tampering acts in response to the incident.

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