Reexamination of the ruling from 7 years ago... What is the legal opinion on the suspicions of Big Hit sajaegi?

[Sunday Newspaper] As the battle between HYBE and ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin continues, a ruling from about 7 years ago is being reexamined. This is the ruling in a case where Big Hit Entertainment (Big Hit), the predecessor of Hive and the agency of the group BTS, was threatened with blackmail in 2017. The reason why this ruling is receiving renewed attention is because it shows that Big Hit engaged in 'hoarding', which is a taboo in the industry.

The ruling was reported through media outlets such as Yonhap News as ‘a one-year prison sentence for a man in his 30s who extorted money by threatening BTS’s agency.’ At the time, Big Hit issued a press release, saying, “The inappropriate marketing activities mentioned in the criminal’s blackmail and intimidation are the criminal’s one-sided claims, and expedient marketing refers to typical online viral marketing,” and added, “This will not happen again in the future.” “We will do our best to manage agencies and business partners to prevent this from happening,” he said.

The reason this case has become a hot topic again recently is because the verdict was issued. At this time, it was only reported by the media, but the controversy is growing as some K-pop fans recently obtained the ruling and made it public. This is because the term ‘hoarding’ is mentioned in the ruling.

To briefly summarize the criminal facts stated in the ruling at the time, it is as follows. From around January 11, 2017 to early February, defendant A received an email from K, the director of Big Hit Music, and L, the head of the financial accounting team, saying, 'We have all the information on the illegal marketing of our celebrities. If you send us 330 million won, we will destroy all related information. An email was sent saying, "If you do not pay money, we will distribute related materials to all media outlets and social media." Mr. A scared Big Hit Music director K by talking to him as if he had also been threatened with the same thing by a third party. The director of Big Hit, fearful of damage to his image, transferred 57 million won eight times to the account of the younger brother of Mr. B, one of the blackmailers.

The part about hoarding appears to examine whether Mr. B knew of Mr. A’s crime and lent him the bank account. According to the ruling, “Mr. B’s only transaction with Big Hit was to market sajaegi in the past, but if a large amount of money has been continuously remitted from K, who is in charge of hoarding marketing, then defendant B, who worked with him in the past, should be “It is highly likely that Mr. A knew, at least indirectly, that money was being extorted under the pretext of hoarding and marketing, even if Mr. A did not tell him.”

Accordingly, suspicions arose among the community and K-pop fans that, contrary to Hive's refutation, Hive was actually hoarding at the time. At the time of 2017, Big Hit claimed, “If the culprit’s one-sided claims of inappropriate marketing activities are reported as fact and our image suffers a major blow, no entertainment company will be able to respond honestly to such blackmail incidents in the future,” but it was illegal. There is also speculation that people were scared because it was marketing.

Hong Jin-hyeon, an attorney at Cheonglim Law Firm, said, “Blackmail is a crime that involves making the other person afraid and using that as an excuse to extort money. “If it was not illegal marketing in the first place but simply expedient online viral marketing, it is questionable whether the victims would have been scared,” he said.

There was also an opinion that clues that the marketing at the time was illegal could be captured in the sentencing of defendant A. Attorney Hong said, “The court favored the sentencing of defendant A, who committed blackmail, and noted that ‘the victim also made a mistake in giving the victim a pretext for blackmail by doing marketing work through expedient means.’ It also means that the marketing method of Big Hit, which was the victim in the first place, was wrong. “If the above marketing method is simply online viral marketing, I see no reason for the court to consider it as an advantage to defendant A,” he analyzed.

Some point out that the court's decision may be uncertain because the words illegal marketing and expedient marketing are mixed in the ruling. In response, Attorney Hong said, “The expressions ‘illegal marketing’ and ‘expedient marketing’ are used interchangeably in the judgment, but this appears to be because the issue in the above judgment is not whether marketing is illegal,” adding, “Defendant A, who directly committed the act of blackmail. It is clear from the judgment that Mr. Sr. scared the victim by saying, "I have all the illegal marketing materials for celebrities in my company," and the "judgment" part of the judgment clearly states that the defendants "extorted money under the pretext of hoarding marketing." It is listed as . As a result, it seems clear that the court at the time, setting aside the judgment on the illegality of the above marketing, at least considered the above marketing to be equivalent to ‘hoarding marketing.’”

There are also claims that marketing was entrusted in 2015, before the Music Industry Promotion Act (Music Industry Act) was revised, so it was not illegal at the time. In response, Attorney Hong said, “In the case of music hoarding, it usually refers to actions such as downloading music multiple times using macro programs and other people’s IDs, so such acts, both past and present, are illegal acts that can be punished as obstruction of business under the criminal law. “However, as mentioned earlier, at the time of the above ruling, the illegality of the above act of hoarding music was not an issue, so it appears that the court at the time did not necessarily decide on the illegality of it.” .

In response to HYBE's response, ARMY, the BTS fandom, posted a full-page advertisement in the JoongAng Ilbo on the 3rd, saying, "We support BTS, not HYBE," and "BTS, which has nothing to do with the current situation, is a lie. “As an agency, we condemn Hive for standing by while we are suffering great damage due to news and rumors,” he said.

Instead of providing a specific explanation, HYBE said, “We have decided that the act of creating malicious rumors through the spread of false facts related to artists has reached a level that can no longer be tolerated, and we have appointed a separate law firm to inform you that we will take strict action.” “Our company will continue to take all measures to protect the rights and interests of artists,” they replied.

Meanwhile, according to 'Sports Kyunghyang' on May 2, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) received a civil complaint requesting an investigation into suspicions of BTS' music hoarding, and the Korea Creative Content Agency under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will begin an investigation after determining the facts of the complaint. It is said to be planned.

Reporter Kim Tae-hyun toyo@ilyo.co.kr

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