NewJeans MV Dispute: ADOR Wins Again, $750,000 Award Stands

ADOR, the agency behind K-POP girl group NewJeans, has secured another court victory in its dispute with video production company Dolphiners Films. An appeals court upheld a lower court ruling ordering the company to pay ADOR approximately $750,000 (1 billion won), plus interest for late payment.

The Seoul High Court's Civil Division 5-3, comprising Judges Kang Seong-hoon, Song Hye-jeong and Kim Dae-hyun, dismissed both sides' appeals at a hearing on Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. KST. The ruling concerned a damages lawsuit ADOR filed against Dolphiners Films and director Shin Woo-seok.

The case centered on whether Dolphiners Films breached its contract with ADOR by separately releasing a director's cut of NewJeans' "ETA" music video. ADOR argued that posting the video without its prior written consent violated the company's obligations under their service contract.

"Even if Dolphiners Films had received verbal consent from Min Hee-jin, who was ADOR's CEO, adding footage on its own without the company's prior consent and posting the video without removing the logo of Apple (a production partner) ultimately violated its contractual obligations to ADOR," the appeals court said.

However, the appeals court differed from the lower court on the extent to which the contractual penalty was enforceable.

The lower court had treated the full penalty of approximately $3 million (4 billion won), twice the service fee of approximately $1.5 million (2 billion won), as enforceable. It awarded ADOR the approximately $750,000 (1 billion won) portion the agency had claimed.

The appeals court ruled that the penalty clause was enforceable only up to approximately $750,000 (1 billion won), one quarter of the full amount. It found the remainder void on the grounds that it was contrary to public morals and social order. The payment obligation remained unchanged, but the scope of the penalty clause deemed enforceable differed.

ADOR's remaining claims, including its damages claim against Shin personally, were rejected, as they had been by the lower court.

The dispute began in August 2024, when Dolphiners Films posted the director's cut of "ETA" on its own YouTube channel. ADOR objected, saying the video had been released without prior agreement or authorization. In September that year, the agency sued Dolphiners Films and Shin for approximately $820,000 (1.1 billion won) in damages.

Both sides appealed the lower court's Jan. 13 ruling.

The appeals court ordered ADOR and Dolphiners Films to bear their respective appeal costs. ADOR must cover the appeal costs arising from its case against Shin.