credit: allkpop
DBSK members Yoochun and Jaejoong are enjoying currently enjoying their top spot on the Oricon charts with their hit single album "COLORS ~Melody and Harmony / Shelter" and naturally, with success comes great exposure.
The boys have already been featured on the Oricon Style Magazine, but now FRaU, another Japanese magazine, has chosen to proudly feature these two pretty boys on their pages. In comparison to previous shoots, the final product of pictures is covered with a splash of color and even a "Beautiful You"-esque picture, which shows the two showering in rose petals. Looking dashing and sexy, these guys sure know how to make a fangirl's heart melt.
credit: allkpop
TVXQ / DBSK / Tohoshinki's Jaejoong and Micky are in the Oricon again... no, not the music charts but rather in their Magazine. In the latest issue of Oricon Style Magazine, Jaejoong and Micky were prominently featured with a photo spread and rightfully so, since their latest release "COLORS ~Melody and Harmony / Shelter" has been doing very well on the charts.
credit: allkpop
It's well known that TVXQ / DBSK / Tohoshinki's Jaejoong is very popular with the ladies in Japan. Despite not being Japanese, he was in the top 10 ranking for the "Top 10 Artists You Want As Your Lover" poll and also awarded "The Top Prince in Japan." Now, he can add another title as one of Japan's best looking artists.
On CDShop's Tsutaya Online there was a poll with the title "Most attractive Male Singer," Jaejoong came in second place with 23.9% (632,202) votes, only trailing Hotaka Yamashita (Ikimono Gakari) with 30.7% (810658) votes. Jaejoong wasn't the only TVXQ member with votes as his fellow bandmates were respectively ranked as well: Micky Yoochun at #11, Xiah Junsu at #27, Changmin at #32, and Yunho at #34. Surprisingly, another Korean artist was in the ranking as well and that was T.O.P. of Big Bang who came in at #35.
credit: allkpop
[TRANS] 090802 TVXQ’s Japanese Contract Speculation
It has been confirmed
that three members of TVXQ, YoungWoong Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun and Xiah Junsu,
have filed for a Exclusive Contract Validity Suspension and Provisional
Disposition Request against SM Entertainment and have also filed for a
Preservation of Evidence Request.The Preservation of Evidence Request refers
to, “Any account books, contracts, receipts, transfer slips or any other
documents that will aid in calculating the exact income and expenditure of the
requester,” and this was done to calculate the exact amount of money TVXQ
earns.There is more controversey to come as a statement was released that
the members of TVXQ, till now, have never received information about the
contents of their Japanese contract.In 2005, TVXQ signed a contract with
Avex Entertainment, one of the largest agencies in Japan, through SM
Entertainment and have been working with both entertainment agencies ever
since.However, till now, the members of TVXQ have no idea what kind of
contract the two agencies formed, and how their income is being divided in
Japan.A representative of the law firm that is helping the three members had
a phone conversation with this reporter and stated, “Ever since TVXQ started
their activities in Japan, they have never been given any information about how
their income is divided or what their contract consists of.”He also said,
“We have tried numerous times to tell the agencies that what they are doing is
unlawful and tried to convince them to show TVXQ the contract, but both agencies
have been ignoring us,” and “The members have been diligently working for this
company without even knowing exactly what kind of contract they are
under.”
The Sejong law firm lawyer who is in charge of this lawsuit informed
reporters in an interview of the problems regarding unfair division of income
and complete honesty with the members and also stated that “We have not
discarded the notion of filing for compensation later on.”
Avex
Entertainment, who is in charge of all of TVXQ’s Japanese activities, wrote on
their ofiicial website on August 1st and stated that TVXQ will continue on with
their activities regardless of the current lawsuit.
Source: oh my news +
DNBNTranslation: jeeelim5 @ iscreamshinki.net Shared by: iscreamshinki.netcredit: sookyeong brought to you by icecoffeeprinces
Three members of Korea’s hottest pop group TVXQ – Micky Yu-chun, Xiah Jun-su, and Hero Jae-joong – filed a legal action against its agency, SM Entertainment. The law firm representing the three members said that they signed 13-year exclusive contracts with SM Entertainment, which is essentiall! y binding lifelong contracts. They also claimed that the profit distribution enforced on them by SM Entertainment is unfair.
The press release issued by the lawyers said that the group was subject to grueling schedule since their debut in 2004, shuttling between Japan, China and Korea with very little rest. They can’t get out of this predicament, because they essentially belong to SM Entertainment for 13 years, 15 years if military services are included. The members were also given only 0.4 to 1% of total album sales. Before the contract revision in February, they were promised only 10 million won each if the previous album sold more than 500 thousand copies.
The fans of TVXQ have been in a state of panic ever since the news of a possible breakup made the headlines. Despite the provisional disposition to terminate the contracts, however, the remaining two members – U-Know Yun-ho and Max Chang-min – and the agency both said that the band would continue performing and it would not disband.
Source: KBS Global
credit: minsarang@wp
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The future of idol group DBSK is uncertain. DBSK’s 3 members (Micky YooChun, Xiah Junsu, Youngwoong Jaejoong) and SM’s trouble is too deep. Although they state that there will be no disbandment, in reality, disbandment is more than likely. Even if they avoid the worst case scenario, disbandment, it feels like their departure of SM is set.
On the third, a acquaintance of the 3 members said, “settlement with SM has been tried multiple times. But their differences couldn’t be settled. The reason this went to court is because they couldn’t find a point to settle.” Thus, they concluded that more attempts for negotiations was useless.
The acquaintance that the reporter met is someone who has watched over DBSK very closely. He has experienced all ups and downs since debut until now. According to him, DBSK advocated for only one thing. They wanted conditions of the contract to be eased. However, it has gotten to a point where the conversations between the two parties have gone nowhere.
He stated, “they asked for the contract term and earnings distribution to be revised because everyone could tell it was irrational. They attempted to negotiate until the end but they felt that SM was avoiding them. Therefore, things got emotional for both parties and the 3 members are even more angry with SM’s response.”
“The truth about the 3 things that SM distorted.”
After the initial reports about this incident, SM sent documents on the 1st and the 3rd. On the first, they reported that this problem was due to the makeup company investment and they will work it out. After the contract conditions were reported, they responded that members were paid 11 billion Won and were given foreign cars as presents.
In response to this, he stated, “the nature of this instance is the unfair contract, not the make up company. However, SM has not mentioned the contract conditions and have continued to use make up company issues to play with the media.”
Additionally, he discussed about the 11 billion Won. He said, “let’s say SM is right and that they were paid 11 billion won for the 6 years of work. This is the pre-tax profit. After taxes were paid, and this amount is divided by 6 years, and 5 members, this is less than 200 million won per member. For the first half of this year, the profits from album sales in Japan is 2.5 billion Yen (33 billion won). However, DBSK doesn’t even receive 200 million won per year.”
The total number of albums released in and outside of Korea is 48. Out of these, including singles and full albums, 1.96 million copies were sold in Korea. In Japan for 4 full albums and 27 singles, 8 of those sold over 100,000 copies, and one sold over 250,000 copies. Including south-east Asia, at least 4 million albums were sold.
He also criticized abnormal methods of calculating methods. According to him, “SM requested money for back dancers and food. Basically, almost all of the expenses were paid for by DBSK.” He added, “besides this, SM created a local subsidiary and divided the earnings of DBSK into pieces. For example, SM Japan and Avex divided earnings, and this was also divided with Korean SM. With complex divisions, the money for the members were reduced.
Also, he stated that the foreign cars were given to them under the company’s name. “They received cars from SM after an award ceremony. However, the cars were registered in SM’s name and is not owned by DBSK.”
“The three members are as tired as they can get.”
According to this acquaintance, the three members of DBSK are tired of SM’s play with the press. They have no intention to solve this with mere words, and are extremely upset that SM is exaggerating only one side of the story, distorting the truth. He said, “they expected SM to twist words with the press but didn’t realize it would be to this extent. If SM continues this method, I think it would be nearly impossible to work together with SM again. I suspect that they will part with SM and try to find a different solution to settle this.
Their departure from SM does not bean the disbandment of DBSK. He asserts that there is no problems in relationships between all the members. They are still like family and agree that in any situations, they must work together. He said, “Truthfully, all five had the same intentions. But in the process of negotiations, there was differences between the members. That is why only 3 members decided to fight with their company. They all agree that the contract conditions are irrational, it is just that their way of handling it is different.”
Micky YooChun, Xiah Junsu, Youngwoong Jaejoong’s will is stronger than ever. The acquittance reported that, “the 3 members are showing stronger wills than before debut. The three members are determined to stick together no matter what hardships come their way.”
They are also determined to get back together as 5 members under the name DBSK. He revealed, “even if the 3 members leave SM through lawsuit, this only means departure from SM. This does NOT mean the disbandment of DBSK. It may be after the 2 remaining members leave, or if they perform from 2 different companies; the 5 want to continue with DBSK.”
Well then, if 3 members leave SM, would they still be able to use the name ‘DBSK.’ Upon researching in the Industrial Property Office, the group name ‘DBSK’ is not registered. SM registered for DBSK trademark in 2004 but was denied. In other words, SM does NOT have the right to the name ‘DBSK.’
According to a ‘Mansung’ Patent Law Firm Office, the patent attorney Hwang Sung Pil said, “Dong Bang means East and one cannot assert exclusive right to use it. Most likely, this was probably the reason why the application was denied 2004. SM cannot assert any trademark rights to the name. If the 5 members are together even away from SM, they will have no problems using the name.”
More than anything, DBSK feels extremely sorry to their fans. This is why they want to go through with performances that were already scheduled. The acquaintance reported, “if they lose the lawsuit, they may have to pay an extreme amount of money for penalty. More than that, they are going through hard times thinking that they will have to be away from their fans while the lawsuit is in process.”
TVXQ’s agency SM Entertainment has put forth another official statement to refute the one given by YoungWoong Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun and Xiah Junsu’s side today.
SM sent their statement to various reporters at 8 o’clock on August 3rd and the content was full of points that refuted what Sejong had stated.
SM began off by responding to Sejong’s statement that there was a clause in the contract that stated that unless TVXQ sold 500K copies, they would not receive a single Won from the album sales. SME stated, “TVXQ has received, from when they debuted till now, a total of 11 billion Won (9.2 billion won given during the time + 1.77 billion won given beforehand) , luxury foreign cars (bonuses with no relevance to the contract). In contrast, SM Entertainment was in a deficit for four years after TVXQ’s debut. The opposition (Sejong) has disregarded the fact that income divisions from CFs, events, and other income sources differs depending on the overall economic situation. They are only focusing on one bad side of this contract instead of looking at it as a whole.“
On Sejong’s statements about the 13-year ‘lifetime contracts,’ SM stated that, “The Fair Trade Committee’s seven year contract urge does not apply to singers. Also, it states that for singers who are working overseas, there is no limit to how long the contract can be.”
SM stated that, “We have been through five changes already in the contract with the members of TVXQ. And of those two, the clause regarding compensation if TVXQ were to cancel the contract was revised by the Fair Trade Committee,” and “The other three times concerned the divisions of income and the first revision was January 2004 when they debuted. The next two times were in February of 2007 and 2009.”
Also, in regard to Sejong’s statement that, “We (Sejong) have tried numerous times to talk with SME about a compromise,” SME stated, “They have only started asking for a suspension of their exclusive contract after the three members sent us a certification of contents through the firm Sejong in June 2009.”
In reference to the members’ statements that they were only sleeping 3~4 hours per day which resulted in bad health, SM said, “We have always compromised schedules for their health.” And in regards to the cosmetic company, which Sejong stated was not the main cause of this lawsuit, SM stated, “This (the cosmetic company) is the real reason why they filed this lawsuit. This statement can be solidified by the fact that only the three members who have ties to the cosmetic company are filing the lawsuit.”
Regarding TVXQ’s future, SM said, “We would like to solve this problem quickly with the three members who filed this lawsuit.”
Note: 11 billion won = approx US$9 million
Source: [joy news + DNBN]
Translations: jeeelim5 @ iscreamshinki
credit: ♥ KPOP JJANG 짱
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DO NOT REMOVE WITHOUT FULL CREDIT!
SEOUL : One of Korea’s most popular boy bands TVXQ (otherwise known as Dong Bang Shin Gi) are causing all their fans around Asia to panic as speculation of a possible disbandment runs rye.
Korean media reported that three of the group’s five members, had filed for termination of their contracts with the group’s managing company, SM Entertainment, in a Seoul court on Friday. They were reportedly unhappy with the unreasonable working hours and unfair contract.
Xiah, Hero and Micky’s representative revealed through news media on Monday that since joining the band in 2003, the stars have been working non stop, travelling in and out of Korea for promotional events and surviving on just three to four hours of sleep each day. As a result, they have become mentally fatigued and their health, greatly affected.
Their rep added that the trio feel that for the past five years, they were just money making tools for SM and have not been able to fulfil their ambitions and visions for the band.
Other bones of contention include their record royalties and contracts which members deemed unfair and tied them to SM for too long. Though they signed 13-year contracts, this excluded the time spent in military service, and would eventually exceed 15 years. The members had repeatedly requested for revisions to the contracts but to no avail.
Xiah, Hero and Micky have maintained that they are taking legal action in a bid to free themselves from contract restraints, and have no intentions to disband the group.
Meanwhile, the pop quintet which include members U Know and Max, are expected to appear as scheduled together at all their other working engagements.
“As a representative group to the country and to Asia, our stand is that activities for Dong Bang Shin Gi have to continue even with this disposition application. And about the problems arising from the discussion to do a cosmetic enterprise, we plan to talk over them and sort out the problems as soon as possible,” read SM Entertainment’s statement.
“On SM’s side, we still have much love for Dong Bang Shin Gi. We do not want them to disband,” said an SM Entertainment representative, “Let’s resolve this peacefully seeing the long time we have worked together since their debut till now.”
Source: Channel News Asia
credit: minsarang@wp
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SM Entertainment, with which Dong Bang Shin Ki member Hero JaeJoong, Micky YooChun and Xiah JunSu has have a dispute with, came out to reveal their official stand.
SM Entertainment said on 3rd August, “Dong Bang Shin Ki has earn 11billion KRW from after their debut till 2009 July (dividend payout 9.2 billion KRW + beforehand provision 1.77 billion KRW). Also they also received many high-end foreign products in the process even though SM Entertainment was suffering from a business deficit in the 4 years after the group’s debut. And even though there is a distributive ratio, they would have raised it with proftis from their endorsement in CFs, doing events and also photoshoots.”
And about how the 3 members have said that they were given unjust treatment, SM Entertainment said, “About their health and schedule, we have discussed them before they were put through it.”
And about the cosmetic enterprise, SM said, “Looking at this case, this holds substantial reasons to it. It is evident since there is only 3 members involved in this case. They wanted to reduce the loss of image and harm to them as soon as possible with this plan as they will be used for the enterprise in terms of having their images used as part of marketing and also to participate in events for the enterprise.”
Also, “According to the Fair Trade commission, there is no provision saying that singers cannot be signed for beyond a period of 7 years, and there is no exceptional provision limiting the contract of singers promoting overseas. We did amendments to the exclusive rights clause for 5 times after the contract was contracted, 2 times were to address the compensation of loss, and after checking and confirmation by the Fair Trade Commission. The rest of the 3 times were to address the profits distribution ratio and for renewal – in 2004 January, then in 2007 February and 2009 February.”
SM “We will solve this case with the 3 members regarding the application for retractile in the contract and the lawsuit confrontation as soon as possible.”
credit: SookyeongIdol group Dong Bang Shin Ki’s members Micky YooChun, Hero JaeJoong and Xiah JunSu finally revealed their stand about their problems with SM Entertainment.
Their representative revealed through news media on 3rd August, “The 5 years period after they debuted, the 3 of them felt that their minds and their bodies are tired having to follow the tight schedule that the company put up unilaterally.”
They continued, “Kim JunSu, Kim JaeJoong and Park YooChun has been following SM’s instruments from beginning of 2004 till now, going back and forth promoting in Korea, Japan, China etc, and in a year except for 1 week they get only 3-4 hours of sleep a day to do our schedule.”
Also, “In the process the health of the 3 members are very much deteriorated, they are also suffering from mental fatigue, and as time went SM continue to established on their own decision for Dong Bang Shin Ki to advance into other countries. In the end the 3 members felt that as compared to be fulfilling their dreams to be singers, they are used more as a tool by the compared to earn profits, and they wish to use each of the members to also go into other entertainers’ activities.”
The 3 members’ representative also added, “It is a 13 years contract but in reality it is a lifetime contract. With the exclusive rights clause in the contract, the 13 years also include the time the members are serving their military service, hence it will go for more than 15 years. And now it has not even been near to 10 years since the group’s debut, hence it seems like the contract will last until the members’ retirement from the entertainment zone. The penalty for retracting the exclusive right clause is 3 times the investment cost and 2 times the lost in earnings. They also asked about the penalty of cancelling the whole contract but it will involve several hundred billions KRW of penalty, hence in reality there is no way out but to be tied down to SM because of the contract.”
Also, “The members did not receive the right treatment even from SM. Without getting any contract fees, the initial contract was that if their album sells more than 500K copies, each member will get about 10 million KRW during the next album release. If they sell less than 500K copies of album, they will get nothing.”
credit : Sookyeong
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