Monday, January 10, 2011

My thoughts about the Contract and the Lawsuit

Here's the summary of what I've posted regarding the contract, and my thoughts about the lawsuit.

1. Summary

I think I've shown that the contract is much better than how it is perceived by most people, and also shown that there are a lot of misunderstandings caused by false/twisted info from the fansites/blogs/news articles.

The profit distribution of the contract is more than satisfying, actually I think it's quite good, and there's not much to complain about especially when TVXQ receives 70% of the profit from most foreign activities where they're most active (Japan).
http://truetvxq.blogspot.com/2010/12/closer-look-at-profit-distribution.html

I also think the 13 year contract term is fine since TVXQ was planned for foreign activities requiring lengthy terms, and it was decided with all the members' consent after everything was explained to them. When I post the transcript from the court trials, there will be more information regarding this.
http://truetvxq.blogspot.com/2010/12/about-13-year-term-is-it-really-that.html

I personally think the breach of contract clause is unfair, but that clause was following the guideline set by the Korean Fair Trade Commission.
http://truetvxq.blogspot.com/2011/01/korean-fair-trade-commission-and.html

In conclusion, it is of my opinion that the contract was not bad enough to file a lawsuit and break TVXQ. If the contract was the only problem CJS had with SM, they should have at least tried to re-negotiate the terms that they were not satisfied with instead of filing a lawsuit, and I believe SM would've worked with them and redo the contract. I have reasons to believe that, and those will be covered in the future when I post about the trial sessions.

2. About the Lawsuit

Having said that, if the lawsuit was solely decided on the contract itself, I think CJS have a good chance to win the case because of the breach of contract penalty clause despite SM following FTC's guideline. That is why CJS's lawyers have been concentrating on the contract itself, and been trying to persuade the judge to do the same. Also, that was the main reason why Super Junior's HanKyung won his case against SM. On the other hand, SM is trying to prove that CJS filed the lawsuit because of the Cosmetics company, and the contract was signed voluntarily by all the members.

There's another factor in this lawsuit. SM is claiming that CJS violated the terms of the Temporary Contract Injunction, and claims that CJS signed a contract with another company (dual contract). JYJ fans and TVXQ fans argue about this endlessly, and I will talk about it in future posts.

I think the Injunction judgment granting CJS to continue their activities until the main lawsuit may actually come back and hurt CJS's case because there were some damaging evidences found against them after the injunction, and most importantly, Avex is on SM's side now. I am very curious to see what kind of evidences will be presented on the next trial session. If Avex owns a copy of JYJ's contract with C-Jes, which I think they have, that could really hurt JYJ's case. SM also requested at least one member of JYJ to testify, and if the judge allows it, then it will be really interesting to hear what he says.

This case is to void/validate the contract, not about judging its fairness. Judging the fairness is a big part of this lawsuit, but it's not everything. Otherwise there's no reason for the judge to allow other evidences besides the contract itself if you think about it.

Ok, so that about wraps up my posts regarding the contract.

Next, I will be posting about the cosmetics company.

25 comments:

  1. hi! are you by any chance a law student? your posts are very well written.

    anyway, i'm commenting because i'm actually writing some articles about TVXQ as well. while searching for some information online, i chanced upon your blog and i would like to ask if you can take a little time off for some discussion with me over email about my articles before i post them up. that's because i'm actually touching on some other sensitive areas regarding this saga and would like to have some extra opinion. do let me know through my lifejournal account! thank you so much.

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  2. Ack I have to break this up b/c it's too long! Here goes... and advance apologies.

    I've personally always thought that it was obvious that there's something more to JCS' decision to file a lawsuit than just their dispute over the contract. Taking the fact that Yunho and Changmin, who (aaand I'm prepared to get flamed for this) always seemed to be the most intelligent and level-headed members of the group did not also file suit, and the fact that the same three members who had the dispute about the cosmetics company did file the lawsuit, something just didn't add up.

    Oh, will you be getting into 625 at all here? Never was too sure what that all was about.

    But yeah. When I first started getting into TVXQ and heard about the lawsuit about a year ago, I tried reading up on it a bit so I could figure out what was going on and formulate my own opinion on the matter - but it was just so ridiculously hard to get straight, unbiased facts. I remember being very confused as to why people kept saying JCS won the lawsuit, when from the few facts I could glean the lawsuit was still pending and they had just been temporarily granted "freedom" of sorts from their contract. And I was mightily confused when JCS formed JYJ, because as far as I understood the lawsuit had not yet been resolved and it really just didn't seem smart or even entirely legal to form a new group, which would eventually require new management, when they were still technically under SM management. When SM filed their lawsuit (which at the time I thought was a second lawsuit since that's what everyone was saying!) I just got sick of people going all rabid over legal matters that they clearly didn't even understand, and just tried to ignore any and all lawsuit talk. Until recently when all the drama surrounding HoMin's comeback kept bringing lawsuit talks back up to the forefront, and I was somehow directed to your blog.

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  3. " On the other hand, SM is trying to prove that CJS filed the lawsuit because of the Cosmetics company, and the contract was signed voluntarily by all the members."

    That's what I believe too! And I'm so excited your going to talk a/b it on your next post :-) *goes back to listen honey funny bunny*

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  4. (cont. from prev. comment)

    Whiiiiichhhh is my super roundabout way of saying in unnecessary detail exactly why I think your blog is such a great source for TVXQ fans, or new/nonfans who keep hearing about them and want to know what the heck is going on - it's the first and only blog I've seen and probably the only one in existence in English currently that lays down organized facts and numbers and dates and complete translations about the TVXQ lawsuit/contract sitch. Tis great. I just hope that it gets more traffic, and that people will approach it with a level head and an unbiased mind.

    You said somewhere that you doubted Jan 18th (or is it 19th?) would be the final court judgment? To clarify, because the court or because SM requested at least one member of JCS to testify?

    Oh oh another question. SM + other scary monster corporations = all powerful Invisible Hand? This... actually wouldn't surprise me if an organization bearing some resemblance to that actually was in existence. I guess it's not really all that relevant to the lawsuit though, seeing as how JYJ fans are just using it to say SM worked behind the scenes to block them out after they started promoting as JYJ. But I'm not buying that SM is as all-powerful and eveeel and obsessed with JYJ's downfall as those fans are saying.

    Have you thought about posting a chronology of events relevant to the lawsuit? If not, I might want to work one out, b/c dates help me. Lol. I find them to be grounding.

    Oh, I almost forgot: do you know what kind of time frame a court generally allows for a claimant to file a lawsuit in a case like this, where a temporary injunction on an exclusive contract is granted first? I understand CJS took 11 months to file theirs, and that SM filed their own lawsuit first after CJS announced they would resume activities as JYJ, 8 months after the temp injunction.

    Good lord. Long and rambling comment is long and rambling indeed! It's late/very early where I am, is my excuse. I will stop now. Won't ever post this ridic. long of a comment ever again. Thanks for your time. ^^

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  5. Ack. Reread your post, saw you already answered my question about court vs. SM requesting the witness. Sorry about that. And sorry if it sounds like I'm treating you like an encyclopedia on all things TVXQ/JYJ/contract/lawsuit/law/anything I've ever been curious about. Not my intention! =P

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  6. @ blathanatos

    LOL no problems asking me questions.

    I am going to go over 6.25 in detail.

    Conspiracy theory about "invisible hand" exists for both sides. SM is actually a medium sized company compared to other companies in the industry. SM is the biggest entertainment company though. Claims about SM controlling TV stations is simply ridiculous. I'm sure SM has influence, but not as much as people think.

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  7. @ blathanatos

    I will be posting a timeline of events in the future, but not in a while. I don't know how many days are allowed after the injunction before filing the main suit. I guess there was no deadline for it since it wasn't specified in the Injunction judgment.

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  8. @ somewhat-anon

    No, I'm not a law student. All the things I've posted could have been figured out by others too if they only had access to the correct info.

    I'll contact you. :)

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  9. you must have pretty amazing language skills then, hah :)

    as an ex-law student (i switched courses halfway), i realised that many people around me had little idea how to interpret clauses in their contracts unless their language skills are strong enough. we are aware of many adults who do not, or pretend to understand what they are signing up for, only to realise it's not what they expected.

    anyway, do take your time to contact me. you must be busy with your own blog. in any case, i originally planned to post up my articles sometime around the end of the lawsuits because i predict that is when another wave of bashing/anger/sadness etc, will start.

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  10. @ biathanatos, tks for your thought here, i feel glad that i see someone share some thought as mine ^^ and Precious, i luv to read u guys correspondence!

    @ somewhat-anon look forwatd to ur writting ;)

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  11. Thanks you for you hard work but I also want to give you the link to an other blog about JYJ, the lawsuit and SM which I found very interesting too, with a lot of references and documentations as well : http://thejyjfiles.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/dbsk%E2%80%99s-contract-under-sm-from-the-perspective-of-international-human-rights-labour-and-intellectual-property-law/#comment-611
    I compared both your articles and works and it helped me getting a neutral, clearer and better picture of the whole situation.

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  12. oh, and since you're talking about "the invisible hand" here is also an article about it :
    http://thejyjfiles.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/korean-music-industrys-invisible-hand/

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  13. @ kokoromiya7

    I know about that site, and I read both articles. The blogger is approaching this issue as strong vs. weak, and wrote his post accordingly. While I agree with some points in the articles, I don't look at the situation as a human rights issue.

    Also, the blogger is using wrong info for the profits, and I already explained why the profit % for album sales is supposed to be low. I believe I explained about other parts of the contract that was mentioned in that post as well.

    I can spend nights debating about the posts on that blog, but I have other more important subjects to cover, so I'll stop here. It's great that you are looking at both sides of the argument.

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  14. Hey...can I ask you something???

    wait, before that... I have to say that I'm a JYJ and TVXQ fan...the first time I hear about the lawsuit, I know that there is more than what media has reported...

    Let us just say... JYJ filled lawsuit towards SM because they wanted to sign with that cosmetic company...Not because of the contract that you said was not a slave contract...
    ~I read that, and well...it's not that 'unfair'...

    However...If you were them, do you really think they would choose that cosmetic company over their fans? over TVXQ?
    You might say that greed for money can change people... But in this case... do you think so???

    Btw, I've also read the statement of Yunho and Changmin... (This statement is everywhere by the way, it's been circulating around the internet for quite sometimes)
    and seriously...for me...it's very suspicious..
    Maybe it's them who write it...maybe it's SM who write it.. I don't know and seriously don't care...

    Oh, btw...Cassie and JYJ fans are not a bunch of stupid airhead who can't read and think clearly...They can..and some choose to leave, some choose JYJ and some like TVXQ2 more...

    You may side with SM-TVXQ2...well, that's your call...
    But,JYJ is NOT the first one to fill a lawsuit againts SM for their contracts...and they certainly won't be the last...

    Oh and please... as much as I love JYJ and I admire their artistic talent and courage... I know they are not the brightest people out there...
    But SM can certainly hire the smart people to avoid bankruptcy...let's not forgetting that fact... :)

    By the way... if SM is right - as they and you claimed - then why would the lawsuit hasn't ended until now?
    where han geng lawsuit has already ended - and he won

    Btw, why do you think that JYJ can't broadcast in Korea? Because they are in the middle of lawsuit?Because they may harm the hallyu wave? Please enlighten us...

    Oh, and someone says that Yunho and Changmin are the more intelligent and level-headed one... I'm sorry, but it's wrong...Sorry... I have a gift to read people...

    Thank you for posting some facts, it makes me get a better picture of what actually happening... :))

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  15. @ antz25

    As for if CJS would give up TVXQ for the cosmetics company, I think that's what they did, and I'll post about it. I am not claiming everyone is not smart, I'm just saying some info are not correct. As for Yunho & Changmin's statement, they are on the web, but some info are missing. SM didn't have that many contract dispute unlike some people think. HOT, Shinhwa and SES all fulfilled their contract terms, so there was never a lawsuit about the contract. Besides, contract disputes are pretty common, just look at US record labels or sports teams. Where there's a contract, there's always dispute. SM just stands out because of TVXQ's fame.

    The lawsuit was delayed because CJS never filed the main lawsuit after the injunction until SM filed it. Only after then, CJS filed the main lawsuit.

    Anyways, everything will be covered in the future.

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  16. @ antz25

    BTW, I have no problem with a JYJ fan like you who tries to look at this situation objectively, and I respect the fact that you read my posts instead of just ignoring it as HoMin biased posts.

    When JYJ filed the lawsuit, they knew their activities in Korea would be hard. Did you hear a single word from them about activities in Korea when they were with Avex? Nope. Their main market was Japan. They are only crying about it because their Japanese activities were halted.
    As for broadcasting in Korea, they do get on TV, but only in limited capacity. I don't know the exact reason why, but as far as I know, they're still contractually bound with SM, but doing all their activities thru another company (fans say agency, but there are proofs saying otherwise), so the broadcasting companies are restricting their activities.

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  17. I really want to read and look the situacion objectively... BUT HOW I CAN DO THAT? how will be that possible if you put that photo (HoMin)... That´s why this site is considerate as HoMin biased!

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  18. @ Alhena Star

    You should be able to read my blog and determine if the contents are right or wrong regardless of the picture. I could put up a picture of JYJ, but that's not going to change what I wrote. To balance it out, read my blog, and go read what's on a JYJ blog and compare the information. That should do the trick. :)

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  19. I hope someone would mindlessly scrutinize and flame this blog so that you can kick his or her arse with your deadpan argumentation skills (it's entertaining and I can tell you're enjoying it too) GOOD JOB!

    Thank you for your hard work! I haven't read other blogs, and I'm staying away from the heavily biased ones but so far this one sticks with the facts. Thank you for gathering and presenting all of this information to the fans and anti's alike. People deserve to know the truth.

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  20. @ korinne
    Thanks, glad you like my blog. :)

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  21. I'm sorry to post so many comments on one single day but your articles really catched me, so even though I'm freaking tired I continue to read through the articles and comments...

    Oh how much I wish that SM will win this lawsuit. By now I'm not much interested in the future of the tree JYJ boys anymore but it will shut up all their biased fans with all their arguments... Well, I know that the hate on SM and HoMin would probably increase and even more ridiculous lies and excuses will arise, but that will only show how desparate the fans are (sorry for saying this ^^;;)

    But still there are a few questions I have.
    You stated that "there were some damaging evidences found against them after the injunction" and you wrote about how Avex is now with SM again and that they might have a copy of the CJeS contract. But that's only one evidence. How can you be sure about other evidences? I mean we can't even be sure of the fact that Avex owns such a copy, right? So why do you assume that there are even more evidences?
    I'm so sorry to bother you with those questions but I want to get a picture not only about the whole case but also about your methods and ways of getting information, cuz this is quite important, too (at least for me ^^) so far it is pretty clear that you're doing a great job gathering information and pointing them out in a very objective way, but especially this evidence thing you stated makes me wonder a bit. (sorry I don't mean to put you into question >.<) It is also because I learned that even those who are the closest to the members (not JYJ members) sometimes don't have the most up to date information as well and what they think to know today will be invalid tomorrow due to other's decision. So I'm wondering how you could know about such "damaging evidences" and that the court might accept them, because this is something really sensitive. (do I make sense???)

    Another question is, why do people from "jyjfiles" visit your site regularely? when reading comments there are so many fans referring to this site.
    I had a short look onto this site and came to the conclusion that it is the exactly opposite of yours. Not only the contents is exactly the opposite, but also the way of arguing, the presentation of the so called "facts", etc. I'm wondering why people who obviously prefere to believe in those shallow words take the trouble and bother to come to your blog? Why only from this site? Why not from other JYJ biased sites as well?
    Do you have any clue about that? I'm really curious about that phenomen XD

    @somewhat-anon: I'm so looking forward to read your aritcle ^___^

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  22. @ pfau
    One damaging evidence was the 62.5% share of the cosmetics company that CJS own that wasn't known at the time of the injunction judgment. There are also evidences of dual contract, but that was dropped from the injunction court after I made that post. As for Avex having a copy of CJes contract, that was just my guess as I stated in my article.
    I get my info by reading news articles and many bloggers' posts and various analysis regarding this issue.
    I have no clue why jyjfiles users visit my blog frequently. Maybe they want to refute my posts on their site as soon as I post, or maybe they're waiting for me to make a mistake so they can label my blog as "rumors", I don't know. You'll have to ask them. :)

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  23. i was wondering what you think is the reason jyj even filed these lawsuits. is it just money? i want to know why they did it, even though i guess no one would really know the reason.. or what do other ppl think the reason it?

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  25. may I ask something?? maybe it's not so related to this post but I'm too dizzy to absorb all your information or you might have mentioned about it and I forgot, there are some parts that I don't understand, hopefully you can help me:

    what i've read is that Junsu's father was the one first who made a statement about leaving SM and persuaded the other two to join him leaving SM (am I right?). so, why did Junsu's father suddenly SAID that he no longer wanted to work with SM again? what the reasons behind his action? is it because the cosmetics issue? because SM did not allow CJS misused TVXQ name for the cosmetics company's advantages?

    if so, it sounds like Junsu's father so irrational..why would he want to leave SM and TVXQ glorious name for the sake of cosmetics company? did the cosmetics company offer great amount of successful to CJS than TVXQ can do to them?

    or..is there another reason? something that SM did to CJS that made them want to leave?

    I'm sorry I'm new to KPOP thingy and I havent read all your explanations so I might be missing some parts, but it bothers me and the reason why they wanted leave makes no sense for me. I hope you kindly answer my questions because I'm already confused, thank you.

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