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On Monday, Oct. 30, SM Entertainment released a statement addressing Teddy Island's contract with NCT DREAM.
Given that the agency previously announced the release of special merchandise and a fan sign featuring the group members, fans were naturally awaiting the same.
However, the recent statement release has caused much stir among the fandom.
That's because the agency claimed that Teddy Island, a teddy bear character brand, had failed to pay the modeling fee of the group members. Moreover, they also continued to use the photos from the shoot without consent and prior notice.
Following the same, SM Entertainment has withdrawn from the partnership and has also warned fans to stray away from possible future releases from Teddy Island featuring NCT DREAM.
We want to clarify that the events currently being announced and promoted by Teddy Island on their website have no affiliation with our company or NCT Dream. We ask fans to please be cautious to avoid any further harm.
SM Entertainment releases statement exposing Teddy Island's non-consensual usage of NCT DREAM's photos for promotion of their brand
The teddy bear character brand, Teddy Island, joined hands with SM Entertainment to collaborate with NCT DREAM for their brand's promotions last year.
Following the same, several exciting announcements like special merchandise and fan sign events were made throughout the year, which had fans waiting in anticipation.
We would like to address the matter related to NCT Dream's recent activities as brand ambassadors for Teddy Island. In 2022, we entered into an advertising contract with Teddy Island and proceeded with the advertising filming for NCT Dream.
The statement continued:
However, Teddy Island failed to fulfill the agreed-upon model appearance fees as stipulated in the advertising contract. Despite our repeated requests for the payment of these fees, Teddy Island continued to use the artists' images in advertising activities without making any payments.
However, SM Entertainment's statement on the same had shed a different light on the partnership.
Through the statement, the agency said that Teddy Island not only failed to pay the group members' modeling fee but also announced a fansign in May 2023 without approval from SM Entertainment.
As Teddy Island continued to use the group members' pictures for their brand without the agency's consent and not paying the modeling fee, SM Entertainment contacted the brand in June 2023 regarding the same.
The agency proposed a contract termination, but despite the same, Teddy Island only paid a portion of the modeling fee and continued to use the group's images.
On Oct. 18, Teddy Island once again announced a special fan-sign event for the pre-order release of the collaboration between them and the K-pop group.
However, as this was not agreed with SM Entertainment, the agency demanded the cancellation of the contract and the fan sign event, to which the brand responded unreasonably.
To address the ongoing situation and possible future misuse of the group's image by Teddy Island, the agency warned fans that no event or products put forth by the brand involving NCT DREAM are consented to or approved by SM Entertainment.
