ADOR Dolphinsikgwan lawsuit outcomes have favored ADOR once again as the agency secured another victory against advertising production company Dolphinsikgwan over the unauthorized posting of NewJeans’ music video on their private social media channels.
The Seoul High Court Civil Division 5-3, presided over by senior judges Kang Sung-hoon, Song Hye-jung, and Kim Dae-hyun, ruled in favor of ADOR during the appellate trial on the afternoon of the 29th, maintaining the same partial plaintiff-win verdict as the first trial.
The court once again sided with ADOR, judging that even if former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin gave verbal consent, Dolphinsikgwan and Director Shin Woo-seok violated contractual obligations by independently adding the video without prior consent and releasing it without removing the production collaborator’s logo.
Consequently, the court ordered Dolphinsikgwan to pay ADOR 1 billion won in damages. Previously in January, the first-instance court had similarly ruled that Dolphinsikgwan must pay ADOR 1 billion won along with an annual delay interest of 12%. With this, ADOR has emerged victorious in both the first and second trials.
Dolphinsikgwan, which has been in charge of producing NewJeans’ music videos, posted the director’s cut of NewJeans’ ‘ETA’ music video on its official YouTube channel in August 2024.
In response, ADOR stated that releasing the video without prior consultation constituted an illegal act, pointing out that the ‘ETA’ music video director’s cut uploaded by Dolphinsikgwan to its own social media channels included elements that conflicted with the advertiser and was posted without proper discussion.
ADOR stated that the copyright for NewJeans’ music videos and all related works belongs to ADOR under the contract between ADOR and Dolphinsikgwan, and therefore they should be posted on the official channel.
Following this, Dolphinsikgwan deleted all NewJeans videos posted on the unofficial fandom channel ‘Ban Hee-soo Channel,’ continuing their conflict with ADOR. Director Shin Woo-seok filed a criminal complaint against ADOR for defamation regarding their statement labeling the ‘ETA’ music video director’s cut release as ‘unauthorized,’ prompting ADOR to file an 1.1 billion won damages suit against Dolphinsikgwan.
Amid the intense standoff, former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin attended the third hearing held last November as a witness, testifying that music directors posting videos on their personal social media is a commonly accepted industry practice and that verbal agreement had been made.
However, the court rejected former CEO Min Hee-jin’s testimony regarding a ‘verbal agreement,’ making its judgment based strictly on the ‘contract’ and ordering Dolphinsikgwan to pay the 1 billion won damages. With ADOR winning the second trial following the first, attention is focused on whether this will finally bring an end to the conflict between the two sides.
