Hankyung, Super Junior’s only Chinese member in the 13 member group, has filed a lawsuit against the effects of his exclusive contract with the defendant SM Entertainment because of their unfair activity scheduling which has caused him gastritis and kidney illness.
Through Hankyung’s legal representative, the lawsuit to terminate his exclusive contract was filed on the 21st with the Seoul District Court.
According to the litigation, Hankyung has not even been given a single rest day per week after debut. It has been said, “Because of the recent continuous overseas activities etc, it has almost been 2 years since he last rested, he has been rushing schedules (all this while).” “Due to contract obligations and heavy penalties, even during bad health, he was not to skip any scheduled activities.”
Hankyung’s side emphasized, “Because of these kind of health problems, (he) has continuously put forward requests to rest, but has always been rejected.” They added, “Except for when they started their perfomances in 2006, at other times, he had to stay in Korea.” “Through their manager, Hankyung requested from SM for leave to return to China to rest but he was rejected every single time.”
Hankyung’s side added, Hankyung’s exclusive contract terms ▶SM was definitely in a more superior position signing on unfair terms in the contract ▶The contract would span 13 years (starting from the release of their first album) ▶Incorporated excessive damages and in terms of the contract, if he voided it, he would be blocked (from other activities) ▶Allocation of rights and obligations in the contract were significantly off-balanced ▶SM had the right to request Hankyung to be in any activity ▶Profit-splitting rights and provisions were also off-balance, hence the intiation of the lawsuit against SM to terminate his exclusive contract.
On the other hand, after Hankyung intiated litigation, SM stated their stand that “for the sake of Super Junior and Hankyung, they are in talks to resolve the problem”.
Source: 스타뉴스
translated by ゞilσvεjr⌒★@sj-world.net
The reason why Hankyung brought in the lawsuit against SM
These are 6 unfair things from Hankyung’s exclusive contract with SM which are stated by Hankyung’s side (not sure from his lawyer or his representative)
1. The contract has many provisiosn which are in SM’s favor.
When the first contract was signed (January 2003) Hankyung was 18 then (underage) and being a Chinese person, he didnt know everything about Korean showbiz so SM had given him a contract with the content that SM suggested.
Not only that, but those side agreements with SM after then (on Febuary 2007 and December 2007) also were only from SM (aka Hankyung didnt have chance to suggest the provisions which are in his favor)
2. The period of the exclusive contract is 13 years is too long.
The first contract was signed stated that it will be ended 10 years after Super Junior’s 1st album but it has been extended to 13 years on the 2nd modified time. Super Junior’s 1st album was released in December 2005 so the contract will be ended in December 2018 and Hankyung will be 35 then.
Moreover, if Hankyung gives up some activities because of his health or study, the contract’s period will be extended according to the situation so it might be 13 years on the paper but it could be longer in real life and this violated seriously to Hankyung’s civil right.
3. There is clause stated that Hankyung will have to pay SM a lot for breaking contract or creating damages toward the contract, thus this prevents Hankyung to cancel the contract or some agreements on the contract. If Hankyung wants to move to another company and continue his activities, he will have to pay SM threefold of the money that SM had invested to him and pay twofold for the loss of the remain time of his contract.
4. The amount between Hankyung’s rights and responsibilities that stated in the contract are not the same.
Hankyung has to follow and attend all the schedule that SM give him, has to do/follow all SM’s orders/intrustions unconditionally but he doesnt have right to request his contract to be revised.
5. SM has forced Hankyung to do some activities that against his will.
At the training time, if Hankyung was late or absent or didnt fulfill his duty he would be fined 10,000won for the 1st time, 20,000won for the 2nd time. After debut, if he was late or absent from his schedule, he would have to pay for all the damage, if he cut the contact with SM more than 1 day according to the situation SM can cancel his contract. And if he doesnt fulfill his duty, according to the situation he could be fined 5,000,000won.
According to the contract, Hankyung doesnt have any right to decide for his schedule, he has to follow SM’s words and only attend the events/performances that SM’s manager designed for him. Hankyung even had been forced to attend some activities because of SM’s order when he was ill.
6. The profit distribution and copyrights between SM and Hankyung.
During the contract period, all the copyright of albums and song will belong to SM. Although Hankyung wrote, composed, arranged the songs, they can be used by SM without his permission.
About the profit, the album has to be sold more than 50,000 pieces so that Hankyung can receive 2% the profit. The digital sales has to be equal with the net profit so Hankyung can get 10% and the oversea income has to be equal with the net profit too so Hankyung can get 60%.
About the oversea activities income, after SM deduct all the promotion activities’s expenses & fees, the remain money will be divided among the members.
Source: 스타뉴스
translated by evanesco@sj-world.net
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They are so unfair.
Hankyung dont give up<3
wtf is wrong w/ SM our boys aren’t their slaves. how can they treat hangeng like that? no wonder he has to sue SM. oppa fighting. i believe in you
arrggg reading this makes me wish oppa can win, definitely!
the contract is like a death statement or something!
so scary!
These are totally unfair contracts. SJ are human not robots. They are not slaves either.
They’re not money maker machine. I think that’s not only for Hankyung but also for the other SM artists.. Poor them.. Just can give ‘em supports..
wow only 4 comments in this blog? and 31 comments on kyuhyun’s cyworld entry about one word: “believe.” -.-
Anyways i really feel bad for all sm artists, with so much fame, yet in a slave contract!
Iam crying while read this..
Is this that happen to suju,including geng,as long as they’re in SM?
SM treated them not like human..
We always said them to take care,keep healthy,but if it thus that actually happened,they never really healthy…n they cant do anything with this..
SMEnt is so…OMG,they’re like monsters!
Sorry,u can delete my comment if it unexcuse,but i just wanna say wut i feel n think~
Reading stuff like this makes me sick …
Honestly, I know SME knows how to “make stars,” but this is absurd! Our boys … THEY”RE STILL HUMAN!!!
… I wish all of them could live long, happy, and healthy lives – they bring happiness to so many people after-all, and deserve to be happy themselves – … but is SEEMS that’s not in the job description.
I don’t want to see their lives through the image this paints. I mean, I knew to some degree, especially after all the stuff with DBSK, that that their lives somewhat resembled that of caged marionettes … BUT I DON”T LIKE THIS AT ALL!! How can Suju, and all the others, always put on such beautiful smiles for us … if they never get a break.
Anyway, I suppose they did sign the contract, and the real world isn’t always fair, easy, or relaxing … but this article does make it seem like Geng was at a particular disadvantage because he was unfamiliar with the country, culture, and language.
*head ache* >__<
Ok – in any case. I WILL SUPPORT AND CHEER FOR HANGENG AND SUJU!!!!
Stand strong!!! We're here for you!!!
whatever is good for the boys, I’m sure we are always at their side no matter what!
Hwaiting!
what r SM people thinking??? They don’t have humanity, heven’t they??? DAMN SM!!!!!! SuJU OPPA HWAITING!!!!!!
WHAT THE??????
This contract is ridiculous! Totally unfair…
Its not all about money…i hate those hater saying hankyung oppa is greedy, selfish…etc..etc..
“Because of these kind of health problems, (he) has continuously put forward requests to rest, but has always been rejected”
“Hankyung even had been forced to attend some activities because of SM’s order when he was ill.”
Hankyung oppa is sick! but they (SM) dont give him rest and even force him to work???
………………………………….
speechless
*clap**clap* for hankyung oppa…
He such a brave man to do what is the right for him…
Why he made it now? I think it is because he suffer so much in his health problem…
if his health problem become worse……………………….
SM has to be BLAME!
Sorry, admins…I.AM.MAD
I Agree with ‘Madison Claire’.
The boys are just humans after all! Hangeng deserves much better treatment, and just because he was new to the Korean-Pop industry, it doesn’t mean SM could take advantage of him at the young age of 18!
I support Hangeng in all his actions ^^
So please hurry and sort out this case, and while they’re at it, MAKE SURE to give HANGENG a fair chance.
Afterall, SM are nothing without Super Junior and Hangeng.
HEARTLESS !!
I’m sure they exaggerated abit.
now im on Hankyung’s side…
poor boy..
how hard it is to obey all the regulations. obviously unfair. better to open dumpling shop rather than being a singer under SM. GOSH!
Geez…
That’s not a CONTRACT, it’s a SLAVERY AGREEMENT~! Grr…
I almost hated Hankyung for terminating his contract.
Don’t bash at me, I just look on the legal side.
BUT if the contents is something like these, that’s where HUMAN RIGHTS should enter.
No one can be greedy than SME. Sorry to say this BUT Lee SooMan is like any other corrupt gov’t officials in my country. Yaish~
They are taking advantage of the guy’s vulnerability since the beginning. How can SM do these? Only demons can drive people like these~
SM doesn’t have a heart. DBSK, Super Junior, Shinee…. etc.. have high hopes and dreams to become famous. I feel sorry for them coz they could’ve achieved that without being treated that way. They are deprived. Achieving a dream shouldn’t be that hard as per the contents of their contracts.
I couldn’t imagine how they[our boys] lived their life since the day they are signed for SME.
Tsk… Tsk… Don’t worry guys, SME will recieve their KARMA soon.
The important is that we, elfs, are here for our boys~ esp. Hankyung. T_T
HanGeng GeGe, Ni bie dang xin. Wo men zai ni de shen bian, yong yuan~! JIA YOU!!!
sm artists have always had it tougher than other companies i believe.. just look at dbsk – there’s a reason why they filed the lawsuit u___u
not only that, but even ftts mentioned that they hated recording the smtown albums because that image didn’t fit them at all c___c
but either way, with such a big group with 13/15 boys, it’s pretty obvious that their income is minuscule
I wish Lee Soo Man himself will change the contract more fairly.
This weird contract will just make trouble for his life and business.
sigh..first DBSK boys now this…
hangeng has every right to file a lawsuit against SME, I know some people think they shouldn’t even file one and some comments like why they signed the contract in the first place. When u sign a contract you don’t know what you’ll get before the activities start. I think hangeng realized really how hard it is when activities start affecting his health.Health comes first afterall, not giving any of them a rest day is violating the law actually =_=
I support him all the way, and I hope there’s no more bashing,especially on kyuhyun,he doesn’t deserve it one bit.Sorry,I’m a gamekyu fan ^^
now I know which side is real!!
DBSK and Hankyung just showed that SM really dont care about their artists health or wantings.They only thought about profit!! CEO Kim Young Min really gets my nerves!!I think Hankyung finally have the courage to file the lawsuit after he saw what DBSK JaeChunSu did…Hwaiting oppa!! I know that youre right!!
hankyung-hyung jia you!!! wish u all the best in what you do =)
SJ will never be the same without u