It’s been belatedly revealed that Gdragon and Taeyang might not be able to promote using these names if they leave YG Entertainment.
The whole reason behind it has to do with the trademark issue. It’s been revealed that YG owns the trademark rights of the names Gdragon and Taeyang.
According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office, YG Entertainment registered GDragon’s name (both in Korean and English) in 2003, and in 2015, the agency registered ‘Taeyang’ in English and ‘GDXTaeyang,’ they weren’t successful in obtaining Taeyang trademark in Korean because it’s a known noun that means ‘the sun.’ Not only it means that they won’t be able to promote as soloists under the stage names they’ve had for 13 years, but also any collaborations using their sub-unit name could become difficult.
Gdragon will still struggle if he wanted to use the name GD because it relates to the trademark that YG owns.
This report came out around the time many stock market analysts are predicting how well will the big 4 agencies perform. YG’s performance will depend deeply on whether BIGBANG members decide to renew or not, BIGBANG is predicted to profit YG by around $25 million if they renew with them. Market analysts couldn’t exactly predict how well YG will do because of this, they will likely rebound if BIGBANG decides to renew.
Market analysts also believe the trademark issue could be the reason why Gdragon and Taeyang would likely renew their contracts with YG, they have spent 13 years promoting under these names. If they decide to leave YG they will not be able to use those names without taking permission from their former agency. The names are a valuable asset to both artists who have promoted using them for such a long time.
Previous groups faced similar issues when they left their agencies, huge group H.O.T still struggles to this day whilst promoting under their name since SM hold the right to their group name. HIGHLIGHT, formerly known as Beast, tried to take their name but lost the lawsuit and thus switched to their current name following their departure from Cube.
Securities Firm Representative says YG has the upper hand since they hold the copyright and trademark rights.
All of BIGBANG members’ contracts are set to expire soon, many are wondering whether they’ll choose to stay together under YG or leave.
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What do you think will happen?
Source: (A)
