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Four LOONA members among the nine who filed a lawsuit against Blockberry Creative to terminate contracts in November last year have won the case, reported the Seoul Economic Daily on January 13, 2023.
Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, and Choerry won the lawsuit and will have their exclusive contracts with the agency terminated. The remaining five members, Haseul, Yeojin, Yves, Olivia Hye, and Gowon, lost their cases and will remain as Blockberry Creative artists until their contracts expire.
Group members Vivi and Hyunjin did not participate in the injunction lawsuit.
With seven members still remaining under LOONA, fans are confused as to what the next path for the group could be. Their recent comeback was delayed indefinitely after ORBITs (the group’s fandom) conducted a successful boycott campaign.
4 LOONA members with the same contract as Chuu win lawsuit against Blockberry Creative to terminate contracts
Group activities of LOONA are now up in the air, with some publications even claiming that it is now impossible. Reports of the nine members filing for an injunction made headlines after Blockberry Creative removed Chuu from the group, citing power abuse in November last year.
Blockberry Creative did not formally confirm the reports, but it seems to have resulted in the group breaking up. The original 12-member piece now remains a seven-member group as Chief Judge Jeong Mun-seong ruled in favor of four members out of the nine who filed the injunction - Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, and Choerry. They can now work independently, however they wish to.
These four members had similar contracts to Chuu's, which led them to victory, just like the latter's last year. Meanwhile, the court ruled against Haseul, Yeojin, Yves, Olivia Hye, and Gowon. The court believed that their contracts weren’t “unjust enough” to warrant a termination after a few clauses were revised around a year or two ago, as per the Seoul Economic Daily.
The initial contract, for which Chuu filed a lawsuit against the agency, locked the members in an almost perpetual cycle of debt. The profits were shared 7:3 agency to artist but the costs were shared 5:5, leaving the group in an almost debt cycle. As per Dispatch’s reports, each member was estimated to have around 200 million KRW in dues.
Chuu’s recent lawsuit was a success, as the courts reversed the weightage. The profit ratio changed to 7:3 artist to agency ratio while the costs remained the same.
In response to Seoul Economics Daily’s report, the agency said:
“We are still checking the exact details.”
Fans have mixed reactions to LOONA’s reported lawsuits
LOONA's lawsuit wins and losses took over Twitter as fans once again debated the conditions of the artist, Blockberry Creative, and the future of the group.
Fans had mixed reactions to the lawsuits. While some couldn’t believe the courts decided to let five members remain under the agency despite the agency’s widespread mismanagement news, others believe that it is just the first step towards the members’ freedom.
Take a look at some of the comments below:
Meanwhile, LOONA’s comeback with 11 members, The Origin Album [0], is indefinitely postponed. It was scheduled to be released on January 3, 2023.
