Law "Fifty-fifty, settlement payment to be received not confirmed"

The court ruled that the group Fifty Fifty has no settlement payments to receive and that the agency did not violate its settlement obligations to the extent of breaking the trust relationship.

According to the legal community on the 29th, the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 50 (Presiding Judge Park Beom-seok) dismissed Fifty Fifty's request for a provisional injunction to suspend the exclusive contract with their agency Attract the day before, making this judgment. The court stated, "Based on the submitted materials alone, it cannot be confirmed that Fifty Fifty's income from album and digital music sales or entertainment activities exceeded the costs incurred for production, resulting in settlement payments (profits) that should have been paid to Fifty Fifty."

The court said, "Although it appears that some settlement details regarding certain income were not properly provided, the omitted income details were corrected in subsequent settlement statements," and "Considering the periods and frequency during which income details were not properly provided, it is difficult to conclude that such circumstances alone constitute a breach of settlement obligations or the duty to provide settlement documents to the extent of destroying the trust relationship."

The court also rejected the claim that "the agency violated its duty to manage the members' health." It added, "The agency ensured that members received hospital treatment when health issues were confirmed, checked diagnosis details and progress, and coordinated schedules to arrange medical appointments or surgeries," and "Aran (Jeong Eun-a)'s surgery appears to have been postponed not due to forced activities but for condition improvement."

Furthermore, although the exclusive contract clause stipulates that in case of contract violation, the other party must be requested to correct the issue within a 14-day grace period, Fifty Fifty suddenly notified the termination of the contract without any correction request. "Right after Aran's surgery caused activity suspension and some members were infected with COVID-19 and returned to their respective family homes, they suddenly sent a notice to the agency to terminate this exclusive contract," the court explained.

Fifty Fifty gained attention by achieving high rankings on the US Billboard and UK Official Charts with "Cupid," but became the center of controversy by starting a legal dispute with their agency just seven months after debut. The court attempted mediation with both parties present on the 9th but failed to reach an agreement.

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