Kpop WTF: Stardom Entertainment Beats The Crap Out Of Block B

Remember all the way back in January of this year when it came out that Block B filed an injuction against their company, Brand New Stardom (aka Stardom Entertainment) for not paying them all their well earned money?  Well, guess what happened yesterday?  You guessed it... Block B lost.  I figured this was coming but DAMN is it f*cked up!

Block B’s application for the suspension of their exclusive contract dismissed:

7-member male idol group Block B had filed an application for an injunction against their agency for the suspension of their exclusive contract, but it was rejected.

On the 7th, the Seoul Central District Court Civil Case Department headed by chief justice Kang Hyunjoo, dismissed Block B’s injunction against their agency Stardom for the suspension of their exclusive contract.

Previously, Block B applied for an injunction this past January stating that, “they signed the exclusive contract in September 2009, establishing that [the agency] would provide proper training opportunities and facilities, along with the responsibility of distributing income. However, when activities started in April 2011 and up until almost a year, they did not even once fulfill their responsibility of balancing accounts”.

They asserted that, “[Stardom] paid a portion of their earnings only after member Zico sent a notification for the cancellation of his contract last March, due to the agency not fulfilling their duty to balance the accounts. However, since then they were not paid monthly.” Also, “money from all sorts of activities and from singing in drama OSTs were left out”. 

However, the justice department disclosed, “Stardom has been abiding the contract by calculating Block B’s profits on a quarterly basis,” and “as [Stardom] is testifying that they will pay if they find out that there are missing payments that need to be paid, there is a high likelihood that they can pay any unpaid accounts.

They added, “There is not enough evidence that shows ‘lack of proper practice rooms, work rooms, and dorms’ or that ‘they were not provided with proper training and coaching’. As there is not enough material on record that Block B’s entertainment activities were not appropriately managed, it is difficult to see that the management obligation was breached.”

Trans: Youngha@ BLOCKBINTL

So messed up!  I don't even know what to say about all of that.  So what happens now?? Read on for Block B's statement from yesterday:

First, we want to tell all the fans that love and support Block B that we are very sorry.

The court made their decision even though they accepted that about 430,000,000 KRW (approximately $385,000 USD) from the musical income and a part of the event income were left out. We believe this is because they wanted us to follow an official ruling that was decided after additional battles on the original lawsuit and thinking deeply about it.

For example, even though evidence was provided about the management contract on Japan's Bauhaus, they have mistakenly stated that it is difficult to determine if they had violated their management obligation because the contract was not submitted. There are other various decisions that the members cannot accept. One such example is saying that unlike the basic royalties paid in advance, the royalties paid in advance by LOEN Entertainment cannot be seen as income that should be paid to the members.

From this, we will be calmly fighting the original case to confirm the legitimacy of the contract nullification. We will be demanding responsibility from Stardom Entertainment of the violation of management obligation and violating the exclusive contract.

Also, the court decided, "The Block B members have fought over the status of the contract nullification while they independently promoted, so there is also a possibility that these promotions can be checked for legitimacy later."

This is because if the Block B members are blocked from promoting independently, it is violating our lawful right to work and our general right to freedom of action.

The Block B members have no intention to promote under Stardom Entertainment, so they will be preparing independent promotions. If the legitimacy of the contract nullification is not acknowledged in the original case, then we will be taking responsibility for the due damages.

We want to tell you again that we apologize for worrying our fans. The Block B members will be giving back to the fans' worries, love, and support by showing a more mature side.

In other words, Block B refuses to promote under Stardom Entertainment anymore. Does this mean that they'll go out and do their own thing? That remains to be seen.

Of course, netizens are still talking shit about Block B.

1. [+227, -100] I think it's actually the company that should be compensated. They invested in the group and got them good concepts for a decent debut but it was the boys that caused all the scandals on TV ㅋ

2. [+178, -78] They're not even popular top stars, what income would they even have to be distributed?? ㅋㅋ Obviously the company was running them on a deficit

3. [+169, -77] If only they didn't act like dogs in Thailand, their company CEO could still be alive today. It's all because of what you guys did so don't act so regretful.

Seems as if there are still a lot of bad feelings in Korea over their controversy in Thailand. Here's the thing: I know those boys realize they were wrong for all of that. They've matured and they are not the same bumbling idiots that would say and do anything to get a laugh. I'm with them all the way and I hope they eventually get to break free of all this negativity.

I need more Block B in my life, how about you?


Source: MONEY TODAY via bontheblock @ tumblr, akp via Newsen via Nate.

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