The court's provisional injunction to prohibit the members of the group NewJeans from engaging in independent activities has been finalized. Attention is now focused on the members' future steps as they have not filed a second appeal.
According to the legal community on the 25th, the five members of NewJeans did not file a second appeal regarding the Seoul High Court's decision on the 17th to dismiss the appeal for the 'Preservation of Status of the Agency and Prohibition of Advertising Contract' injunction. The second appeal against the provisional injunction must be filed within a week of being notified of the trial, and as they did not submit it by the 24th, the injunction was finalized on the 25th.
As a result, the five members of NewJeans cannot engage in independent activities without the prior approval or consent of their agency, ADOR. In fact, member Danielle attended a new product event for a luxury jewelry brand in Kyoto, Japan, on the 18th as a global ambassador, and it is reported that the agency ADOR accompanied her on that schedule.
The provisional injunction was initially issued in March. The Seoul Central District Court granted ADOR's injunction request against the five members of NewJeans, thereby preventing their independent activities. The members immediately filed a complaint, but the court dismissed it, and they announced that they would continue to fight in court through an appeal.
However, prior schedules booked by the members have hampered their situation. After the court's decision in March, the members declared that they would suspend activities through Hong Kong's ComplexCon, and it is reported that an ADOR staff member who came to meet NewJeans in Hong Kong was not met.
Ultimately, ADOR applied for indirect enforcement, expressing concern over NewJeans' actions at Hong Kong's ComplexCon without agency staff while ignoring the court's decision. The court accepted this, ordering that if the members continue independent entertainment activities without ADOR, they will have to pay 1 billion won to ADOR for each violation. If they carry out independent activities as NewJeans, they will have to pay a total of 5 billion won to ADOR.
In effect, NewJeans finds themselves in a situation where their actions are severely restricted. In response, ADOR issued an official statement the day after the dismissal of the provisional injunction appeal, saying, "Yesterday, there was a decision in the appellate court that reaffirmed ADOR as NewJeans' agency. We deeply appreciate the court's ruling."
He continued, "We hope this decision becomes an opportunity for the members to return to activity as NewJeans. As NewJeans celebrates its 3rd anniversary next month, the company plans to do its utmost to support them so they can achieve greater advances and growth."
While NewJeans has expressed no intention to settle with ADOR during various trials, following four consecutive losses in court, they have found themselves in a situation where they cannot pursue entertainment activities without returning to ADOR. Member Danielle is also managing her schedule with support from her agency ADOR in her role as a brand ambassador.
Moreover, as the members did not file a second appeal regarding the dismissal of the provisional injunction, there are forecasts that they will effectively proceed to return to ADOR. It is estimated that the main lawsuit could take at least 1 to 3 years to yield a first-instance ruling, making it impossible for NewJeans members to engage in entertainment activities during that period unless they return to ADOR. However, currently, the NewJeans members have not expressed any particular stance on the court's ruling, and attention is focused on their future decisions.
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]