The possibility has been raised that LOONA, a group that suspended activities due to a dispute with the agency, will be active in Japan rather than Korea.
According to entertainment industry officials, Universal Japan has started a movement to directly exercise exclusive rights over the members of LOONA, whose full group activities have been postponed indefinitely due to an exclusive contract dispute with the agency Blockberry Creative. Universal Japan is an investment company for LOONA and is in charge of management in Japan.
It has been reported that Universal Japan is in the process of materializing the Japan activity plan for all 12 Loona members.
The Japanese agency decided to correct the settlement details of the conflict between LOONA and the agency Blockberry Creative by providing them directly to the members and expressed its willingness to show the status of Japan’s top record company, according to the official.
However, it was reported that they took the position that if the members reject the activities proposed by the Japanese agency without a convincing reason, legal disputes in Japan should proceed in order.
In September 2019, the exclusive contract signed by all members with Universal Japan explicitly contained a clause that states, “Even if the contract relationship with Blockberry Creative expires, members must fulfill their exclusive contract and if not, they are obligated to pay damages under Japanese law.”
Blockberry Creative requested mediation from Korea Entertainment Management Association in December of last year for Chuu, and members Heejin, Choi, Kim Lip, and Jinsoul who were recently cited through a lawsuit for suspension of the exclusive contract.
Against this background, Blockberry Creative was on the verge of actually transferring the exclusive rights of LOONA to its Japanese agency, and it is believed that the purpose was to defend the lawsuit to be filed by Japan in advance.
Previously, even after the contract in Korea was terminated, some girl groups still had the period of the exclusive contract signed with the Japanese agency, so in fact, there were cases where they went to Japan and performed the remaining activities even after the team activity ended.
Previously, Chuu won a lawsuit against the agency for a temporary injunction to suspend the validity of her exclusive contract and has been conducting independent activities. On the other hand, Haseul, Yeojin, Yves, Olivia Hye, and Gowon lost the lawsuit and stayed with the company. Recently, Vivi and Hyunjin also filed for an injunction to terminate their contracts.
Source:(A)
