ADOR Rejects Apology Demand from Dolphin Kidnappers Director, Citing Contract Violations

The agency ADOR, representing the group NewJeans, has rejected an apology demand from Dolphin Kidnappers director Shin Woo-seok, calling it an "overreaction to pointing out contract violations."

On the 9th, ADOR stated on its official SNS, "The contract between ADOR and Dolphin Kidnappers for the production of music videos clearly states that all rights, including secondary works, belong to ADOR. Therefore, posting videos containing NewJeans IP on the Dolphin Kidnappers channel without ADOR's approval is a clear breach of contract."

ADOR continued, "For this reason, we requested Dolphin Kidnappers to either provide proof of agreement and approval for the use of copyrights and artist likenesses (email or KakaoTalk messages are acceptable) or take down the 'Director's Cut.' Protecting the artist's work is a natural duty of the label. If Dolphin Kidnappers has any agreements with ADOR, they should present them."

ADOR also clarified, "We never asked Dolphin Kidnappers to delete videos from the Ban Hee-soo channel. We only conducted a fact-checking process regarding the 'ETA Music Video Director's Cut' to protect the artist's copyrights. We have never mentioned the Ban Hee-soo channel and do not wish for it to disappear. Dolphin Kidnappers can continue to operate the channel as long as they adhere to the contractual agreements regarding the artist's work."

Additionally, ADOR stated, "Overreacting to the pointing out of contract violations by deleting all content does not seem to be an action stemming from the pure pain of a creator or for the benefit of NewJeans and their fans. We hope there will be no more actions that increase the anxiety of the artist and fandom by holding the YouTube channel hostage."

Earlier that day, director Shin Woo-seok demanded an apology from ADOR, claiming they had made aggressive correction demands and alleged copyright infringements that deviated from existing agreements.

Director Shin stated, "The demand is simple: apologize. If ADOR posts an apology on their official channel by today, Dolphin Kidnappers will transfer the Ban Hee-soo channel to ADOR." He added, "If there is no apology, I will find a way to transfer the Ban Hee-soo channel to the fans and sue ADOR for defamation with evidence of the existing agreements." He also emphasized, "Do not distort the truth with dirty media play."

Since the 2nd, ADOR and director Shin Woo-seok have been publicly disputing the truth. On the 2nd, director Shin claimed, "It seems there has been a policy change at ADOR with the new management," and "Due to ADOR's deletion request, all NewJeans music videos and related content uploaded by Dolphin Kidnappers, as well as future planned uploads, can no longer be made public." ADOR countered, stating that these claims were not true.

Meanwhile, on the 27th of last month, ADOR dismissed former CEO Min Hee-jin and appointed HYBE's CHRO (Chief Human Resources Officer) Kim Joo-young as the new CEO. ADOR stated that former CEO Min would continue to produce NewJeans, but Min claimed that the content of the production delegation contract was unreasonable and opposed it.

Below is the full statement from ADOR

Hello, this is ADOR.

The contract between ADOR and Dolphin Kidnappers for the production of music videos clearly states that all rights, including secondary works, belong to ADOR. Therefore, posting videos containing NewJeans IP on the Dolphin Kidnappers channel without ADOR's approval is a clear breach of contract.

For this reason, ADOR requested Dolphin Kidnappers to either provide proof of agreement and approval for the use of copyrights and artist likenesses (email or KakaoTalk messages are acceptable) or take down the 'Director's Cut.' Protecting the artist's work is a natural duty of the label. If Dolphin Kidnappers has any agreements with ADOR, they should present them. In the absence of any evidence, ADOR must adhere to principles to protect the artist's work.

It is also a clear fact that ADOR received a request to delete or modify the 'ETA Music Video Director's Cut' produced by Dolphin Kidnappers to remove parts reflecting the advertiser's brand. (The image below is a Slack message reported internally at the time)

ADOR never asked Dolphin Kidnappers to delete videos from the Ban Hee-soo channel. The Ban Hee-soo channel was created by an ADOR member following our 'Online Channel Creation Guidelines.' ADOR only conducted a fact-checking process regarding the 'ETA Music Video Director's Cut' to protect the artist's copyrights and never mentioned the Ban Hee-soo channel. ADOR does not wish for the Ban Hee-soo channel to disappear. Dolphin Kidnappers can continue to operate the channel as long as they adhere to the contractual agreements regarding the artist's work.

Overreacting to the pointing out of contract violations by deleting all content does not seem to be an action stemming from the pure pain of a creator or for the benefit of NewJeans and their fans. We hope there will be no more actions that increase the anxiety of the artist and fandom by holding the YouTube channel hostage.

We apologize to the NewJeans members and Bunnies for causing unnecessary controversy. ADOR will strive to resolve this issue as quickly as possible based on the accurate facts.

Thank you.

Choi Ji-ye, TenAsia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr