JYP Entertainment said it will take a hard-line stance against illegal acts targeting its artists.
JYP Entertainment (hereinafter JYP) said on the 20th on its official website, "Using reports from fans, our own monitoring and a dedicated malicious content monitoring system, we collect malicious content occurring in major domestic and international online community platforms, social media and messengers such as KakaoTalk open chat and Telegram in real time. We continue to take strong legal actions such as criminal complaints and civil claims against the creation and distribution of such malicious content without any settlements or leniency," it said.
The agency said, "We have filed criminal complaints and accusations against those who wrote, created and distributed malicious content about our artists on community platforms, messengers, social media or through our ethical management reporting service. They have undergone or are undergoing strict investigations by investigative agencies, and for some, convictions for violations such as violations of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection or the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence have been confirmed, resulting in fines, and orders to complete sexual violence treatment programs and orders restricting employment at child and youth-related institutions have been imposed," informing of the progress.
It added that overseas residents are no exception, saying, "Legal measures against malicious content posted on overseas online platforms or actors residing overseas are also being pursued without exception. Specifically, we pursue the identities of malicious content creators to the end through the court's request for evidence investigation and applications for evidence disclosure to foreign courts, and we hold those whose identities are identified liable for damages regardless of domestic or international jurisdiction," it explained.
It continued, "In particular, a U.S. court rejected the opponent's objection in the discovery process we requested on the grounds of 'freedom of expression' and issued a final information production order. This clearly states that methods that use foreign platforms as a means to infringe on an artist's personality rights, or that justify illegal acts by shielding behind freedom of expression, will no longer be legally tolerated," it added.
The agency also said, "Stalking behavior that threatens the safety of our artists and seriously invades their privacy is also subject to our hard-line response. Temporary restraining orders prohibiting access to the perpetrators have already been granted by the court, and we have requested strict investigations into additional criminal allegations arising during the stalking process through criminal complaints and accusations. In parallel, we are also proceeding with civil claims for damages against the perpetrators. In particular, for stalking actors residing overseas, we are actively using foreign courts' evidence disclosure systems to pursue legal responses such as damages," it emphasized.
Lastly, "We respond with a zero-tolerance policy to illegal acts such as writing, creating and distributing malicious content and stalking that exploit anonymity without exception," and "We clearly state that we will continue to take stern legal action under a zero-tolerance policy in any case against acts that infringe on the rights and interests of our artists," it said.
Below is the agency's full statement.
Hello. This is JYP Entertainment.
We conduct ongoing monitoring and strict legal responses to various illegal acts targeting our artists.
Using reports from fans, our own monitoring and a dedicated malicious content monitoring system, we collect malicious content occurring in major domestic and international online community platforms and social media such as Naver, Nate Pann, Daum Cafe, The Qoo, DC Inside, Ruliweb, FM Korea, MLB Park, Instiz, X (formerly Twitter), Bilibili, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, and messengers such as KakaoTalk open chat and Telegram in real time. We continue to take strong legal actions such as criminal complaints and civil claims against the creation and distribution of such malicious content without any settlements or leniency.
We have filed criminal complaints and accusations against those who wrote, created and distributed malicious content about our artists on community platforms, messengers, social media or through our ethical management reporting service. They have undergone or are undergoing strict investigations by investigative agencies, and for some, convictions for violations such as violations of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection or the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence have been confirmed, resulting in fines, and orders to complete sexual violence treatment programs and orders restricting employment at child and youth-related institutions have been imposed.
Legal measures against malicious content posted on overseas online platforms or actors residing overseas are also being pursued without exception. Specifically, we pursue the identities of malicious content creators to the end through the court's request for evidence investigation and applications for evidence disclosure to foreign courts, and we hold those whose identities are identified liable for damages regardless of domestic or international jurisdiction.
In particular, a U.S. court rejected the opponent's objection in the discovery process we requested on the grounds of 'freedom of expression' and issued a final information production order. This clearly states that methods that use foreign platforms as a means to infringe on an artist's personality rights, or that justify illegal acts by shielding behind freedom of expression, will no longer be legally tolerated.
Stalking behavior that threatens the safety of our artists and seriously invades their privacy is also subject to our hard-line response. Temporary restraining orders prohibiting access to the perpetrators have already been granted by the court, and we have requested strict investigations into additional criminal allegations arising during the stalking process through criminal complaints and accusations. In parallel, we are also proceeding with civil claims for damages against the perpetrators. In particular, for stalking actors residing overseas, we are actively using foreign courts' evidence disclosure systems to pursue legal responses such as damages.
Accordingly, we respond with a zero-tolerance policy to illegal acts such as writing, creating, distributing malicious content and stalking that exploit anonymity without exception. In particular, materials for which evidence collection has already been completed are submitted as evidence to domestic and international investigative agencies and courts regardless of whether posts are deleted, accounts are made private, IDs are changed or members withdraw.
We clearly state that we will continue to take stern legal action under a zero-tolerance policy in any case against acts that infringe on the rights and interests of our artists.
If you discover illegal acts that infringe on an artist's rights and interests, please actively report them via the Fan JYP email. We also ask for warm cooperation to create a mature environment that both artists and fans can be proud of.
We deeply appreciate the interest and love you always show the artists of JYP Entertainment, and we will continue to take proactive measures to protect our artists.
Thank you.
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