Momentica, a digital photo card exchange platform operated by a joint venture between HYBE and Dunamu, apologized after being caught trying to steal the portrait of a singer belonging to another management company without prior consultation.
Momentica said, "We have received a problem from SM regarding the use of Riize's portrait in SNS promotional posts without SM's prior consent. We apologize to SM and to the fans who have been waiting for the service for the lack of sufficient review and consultation in advance." “I tell you this,” he said.
Levels, the operator of Momentica, is a joint venture established by HYBE, the No. 1 entertainment company in Korea by market capitalization, and Dunamu, which operates cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, for the NFT business. Platform Momentica allows you to purchase idol NFTs with lemons, which are commonly used as currency. This NFT consists of a video containing the idol's photo or voice, and is a digitized version of the physical photo card, which is considered a necessity in the fandom.
So far, the service has been focused on singers from HYBE labels such as Seventeen, Le Seraphim, and Enhyphen, and Riize, a member of SM Entertainment, has attracted attention as a 'Be-Hive' singer. However, upon confirmation, it was discovered that SM had not discussed any service collaboration with Momentica. Not only the ‘promotional post’ but also the ‘service’ itself was not discussed in advance.
An entertainment official said, "As the economic value and importance of K-pop singers' IPs are growing, companies that provide services using them must be more careful. Nowadays, just mentioning their names without prior consent is considered IP infringement." “As this can be an example, if you blindly open a service without consultation, you could be held legally responsible,” he advised.
