EXO sub-unit EXO-CBX (Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin) has lost all of its legal battles against SM Entertainment.
According to The Law Times on the 28th, all lawsuits filed by EXO-CBX against its former agency—alleging failure to provide settlement data and unfair contract terms—have been dismissed or found to have no grounds.
Previously, EXO-CBX had filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Eastern District Court demanding the full settlement records for EXO's 13 years of activities. However, the court ordered SM to submit only the records related to their new exclusive contract, dismissing the rest as "a speculative request that failed to specify the existence or scope of settlement payments."
A separate injunction request to inspect and copy SM's accounting books was also dismissed. The court reasoned that EXO-CBX appeared to be using the case as a means to achieve the purpose of a document submission order or to place psychological pressure on SM Entertainment.
EXO-CBX appealed and later filed a re-appeal, but both the High Court and the Supreme Court upheld the lower court's rulings in favor of SM Entertainment.
Meanwhile, complaints EXO-CBX filed with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Fair Trade Commission were also dismissed. The Ministry concluded that SM had been regularly providing settlement data directly to the artists and found no violations of either the exclusive contract or the Popular Culture Industry Promotion Act. The Fair Trade Commission likewise rejected EXO-CBX's claims of an "unfair contract" with SM and of "unjust support" involving music distribution fees imposed by Kakao Entertainment.
EXO-CBX has not released an official statement regarding the rulings.
In the meantime, EXO is moving forward with year-end fan meetings and a new album as a six-member group—Suho, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, Sehun, and Lay—without EXO-CBX.
[Photo] OSEN DB.
[OSEN]