Ador reignites copyright dispute with Dolphiners Films:
“Stop holding the channel hostage to create anxiety”

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Ador, the agency behind the popular K-pop group NewJeans, has once again spoken out regarding their ongoing copyright dispute with Shin Woo-seok, the director at Dolphiners Films, who produced the music videos for “Ditto” and “ETA.”

On the 9th, Ador released a statement on their official channels, expressing concern over the situation, stating, “The channel should not be held hostage, creating further anxiety for the artist and fans.”

Ador emphasized, “According to the music video production contract between Ador and Dolphiners Films, all rights to the music videos and derivative works belong to Ador.”

They added, “Posting any video featuring NewJeans’ IP on Dolphiners Films’ channel without Ador’s approval clearly violates the terms of the contract.”

Ador further explained, “For this reason, we asked Dolphiners Films to either provide proof of permission for the use of copyrights and artist likeness, or, if not, to take down the director's cut.

This request was made alongside the contract clauses.” They continued, “Protecting the artist’s creations is a fundamental responsibility of the label. If Dolphiners Films has any agreement with us, they should simply present it.”

Ador reiterated that they had no choice but to adhere to principles to protect the artist’s rights as they had not received any evidence from Dolphiners Films.

They also clarified, “It’s true that Ador requested Dolphiners Films to either delete or edit out the parts of the ‘ETA Director’s Cut’ that featured advertising brands, as per the contract.”

However, Ador emphasized, “We never demanded the deletion of any videos from the Ban Hee-soo channel,” explaining that the Ban Hee-soo channel is managed by Ador staff, following Ador’s internal guidelines for setting up online channels.

“We only conducted fact-checking on the 'ETA Director’s Cut' to ensure proper copyright usage. We never mentioned anything about the Ban Hee-soo channel,” Ador stated.

Ador also stressed, “We do not want the Ban Hee-soo channel to disappear.”

They added, “Dolphiners Films can continue to run the channel. We just ask that they respect the terms agreed upon in the contract regarding the artist’s works.”

Ador criticized Dolphiners Films' reaction to delete all content, calling it an overreaction to the mention of contract violations.

“Deleting the entire content is not a move that comes from genuine creative pain, nor does it seem to be an act for NewJeans or their fans.”

They concluded, “We hope there will be no more actions that use the channel to create anxiety for the artist and fans.”

In closing, Ador promised to quickly resolve this issue for the sake of NewJeans and their fans.

The dispute initially erupted on September 2, when director Shin Woo-seok posted on his social media, claiming that a policy change at Ador had led to their demand for the removal of all NewJeans-related music videos and content from the Dolphiners Films channel.

Ador responded with a statement the next day, leading to a series of posts from Shin, where he continued to assert his position.

On September 9, Shin claimed, “The ownership of the Ban Hee-soo channel belongs to Dolphiners Films, as per our original agreement.

But ownership isn’t important to us. As long as the channel continues to exist as an extension of our work, that’s all we need.”

He added, “What we want is for Ador to acknowledge their mistake and resolve the confusion for the fans.
If there is no apology, we will explore options to transfer the Ban Hee-soo channel to the fans and will sue Ador for defamation, presenting the proof of our original agreement.”

This dispute has sparked a wider conversation about copyright issues between music video production companies and agencies in the K-pop industry, as well as the operation of fan communication channels.

Industry insiders suggest that this case highlights the need for clearer terms regarding copyright in music video production contracts and raises the importance of establishing guidelines for the operation of fan channels to protect the interests of both artists and their fans.