A Seoul Central District Court has dismissed FIFTY FIFTY’s request for an injunction to suspend their exclusive contract with ATTRAKT. Here’s the latest.
The dispute started in July 2023 when Warner Music Korea supposedly made an offer to buy the girl group via its production company The Givers, without notifying ATTRAKT CEO Jeon Hong-jun. Attrakt says The Givers is trying to steal members of the band away.
“Warner Music Korea wanted to talk to ATTRAKT CEO Jeon Hong-jun about a ‘label deal,’ which was passed along and the two parties were able to communicate with one another,” The Givers said in a statement in July 2023. ATTRAKT released a recording of a phone conversation between itself and Warner Music offering to buy The Givers for $15.2 million—as long as Jeon wasn’t informed.
“Jeon, who hoped to list ATTRAKT on the stock exchange, declined the offer from Warner Music Korea, and had offered an invest payment deal with WMK,” The Givers statement continues. “ATTRAKT claims that [The Givers] plotted a scheme behind its back to sell [FIFTY FIFTY], but this is far from the truth.” The Givers ended its contract with Attack on May 31.
The four group members filed a provisional injunction against ATTRAKT, claiming their reputation was damaged. A legal representative claimed other issues with ATTRAKT including non-transparent settlements and “unilateral attempts to enforce contracts despite health conditions.”
A mediation was arbitrated by the civil division of the Seoul Central District Court on August 9. However, the parties involved in that arbitration failed to reach an agreement. After failing to reach an agreement, law firm Barun—representing FIFTY FIFTY—submitted an application expressing hope for a formal trial. However, the court dismissed that decision.
“There is a lot of evidence of tampering,” ATTRAKT CEO Jeon Hong-jun said in regards to the court’s decision. “In the future, we plan to focus on criminal complaints against The Givers CEO Ahn Seong II and Director Baek.”
