The Supreme Court has ruled against the appeal of former EXO member Tao in his lawsuit against SM Entertainment.
Back in April 2017, Tao lost the court case against the company in regards to his exclusive contract. Tao subsequently submitted an appeal against the decision. However, the Seoul High Court officially rejected his appeal on October 27th.
SM Entertainment followed up with the decision and released a statement welcoming the ruling. The company stated they hope to expand their global business while making their best, conscious decisions regarding Asian entertainment industry contract standards.
Despite Tao’s complaints against the contract, specifically about the length of the exclusive contract, SMTOWN has made sure to point out that the contract in question was based on the standard contract provided by Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). As such, they feel that no issues should have arisen from the contract since it is a standard contract and included no atypical requirements for music industry agreements.
Meanwhile, Tao is able to be under a new label in China while SM Entertainment still officially controls his Korean activities as per the original contract.
What do you think of the situation and ruling?
Sarah (sapphir3bluu) is a writer for WTK from Las Vegas and fond of cats, k-pop, and singing. She enjoys learning new languages and is manager of Super Junior fanbase, WorldwideELFs, but has also done subbing work for EXO. If you don’t find her being slowly consumed by BTS, GOT7, NCT, and ASTRO, she is aspiring to go to graduate school and work in the health care field.
Media: SMTOWN