[News] Ilgan Sports: "Ruling to be made on the 17th regarding five ⁠LOONA members vs Blockberry Creative in the exclusive contracts invalidation lawsuit… The outcome?" (250416)

[Original article]

After one year and eight months, the ruling of the first trial regarding the exclusive contracts of LOONA’s Haseul, Yeojin, Yves, Go Won, and Olivia Hye with their previous agency is set to be announced.

On the morning of the 17th, the first trial verdict to confirm the invalidity of exclusive contracts per a lawsuit filed by Haseul, Yeojin, Yves, Go Won, and Olivia Hye against Blockberry Creative will be delivered at the Seoul Northern District Court.

Earlier, nine LOONA members (excluding Vivi and Hyunjin) petitioned for a provisional injunction against Blockberry Creative, determining that “the relationship of mutual trust with Blockberry Creative - the foundation of a contract relationship - had collapsed to the point that expecting management work or activities in the entertainment sector had become difficult.”

Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, and Choerry won this provisional injunction, but Haseul, Yeojin, Yves, Go Won, and Olivia Hye lost their case in January 2023 due to previously having made some changes to the terms of their contracts. In turn, Haseul, Yeojin, Yves, Go Won, and Olivia Hye appealed in June 2023 and subsequently were granted the provisional injunction. In August they filed a lawsuit to invalidate their exclusive contracts, and this case has continued to this date.

In this lawsuit, which has proceeded for more than a year and a half, the five members claimed that they were concerned that they would not be able to receive appropriate management services from Blockberry Creative, citing the fact that Blockberry persisted in unreasonable business practices and were under police investigation on charges of fraud and breach of trust. They also claimed that there is no material gain to be had from maintaining this contractual relationship due to the soon-impending expiration date.

On the other hand, Blockberry Creative has maintained its position that the profit distribution clause cannot be considered grounds for invalidation of the exclusive contracts, stating that the five members had agreed to a proposal to sign supplementary contracts, amending their exclusive contracts, and even entering into an earnings-sharing agreement in which they agreed not to raise any civil or criminal objections

Currently, Haseul is active under ARTMS, Yeojin, Go Won, and Olivia Hye under Loossemble, and Yves as a solo artist.