The Kyunghyang Shinmun
[Exclusive] “Legal Action Against Fake Performances by Inviting WINNER-PENTAGON-Weeekly etc.”
Edit on 2022.10.20. Revised at 6:28 PM, 2022.10.20. 7:22 pm
The concert with the imitated name and design of the existing Korean festival has been hosted in Europe, and the legal action would take place.
According to Seongsu-dong Media, the production company of K-Pop festival 'KPOP FLEX', they filed for an injunction with K-Pop FLEX and two Korean companies, who participated in the concert of the similar names (K.FLEX in London) on October 13th.
‘K-Pop Flex’ which was held at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, Germany in May 2021, is the largest K-Pop festival in Europe after the COVID-19 pandemic started. 80,000 spectators in total have gathered and EXO’s Kai, MAMAMOO, NCT DREAM, (G)I-DLE, AB6IX, ENHYPEN, IVE, Dreamcatcher and MONSTA X performed successfully.
Seongsu-dong Media and SBS, who planned the previous event, were preparing for the another festivals in other European cities after the success.
However, it was revealed that Company A which was European partner for ‘K-Pop Flex’, prepares to host a concert called ‘K.Flex’, a similar name with ‘K-Pop Flex’ without any consultation with us in advance. Moreover, two Korean companies participated in as the organizers and the investors to proceed the ticket sale. 'K.Flex' continued to sell the tickets, announcing that it will hold the concert at O2 Arena in London, UK on November 20th.
Company A was also managing the website of the existing ‘K-Pop.Flex’, but it was confirmed that they uploaded the contents of ‘K.Flex’ in the existing domain. They even distributed press releases and published the articles that groups such as WINNER, PENTAGON, AB6IX, VIVIZ, and Weeekly were invited.
Ilji Choi, CEO of Seongsu-dong Media said, “‘K.Flex’ is an obvious fake festival that imitated the performance of ‘KPOP FLEX’ without permission, and the logo and the design were also copied. They are promoting extensively that the 'Flex' concert is a follow-up event for the 'KPOP FLEX' festival."
He continued, “They are selling tickets for the ‘K.Flex’ concert to be held in London, England on November 20th, but London, England was the place where we were going to hold the next year’s concert called ‘K-Pop.Flex in London’. It is not only an illegal act that destroys the cultural IP of the Republic of Korea that has been built up in an instant, but also, has resulted in injunctive relief because it could inevitably cause great confusion and financial damage to overseas K-pop fans.”
The person concerned concert industry indicated, “The act of confusing the global K-pop fans using a brand that has achieved great success abroad, could causes the damages on the foundation of the Korean concert industry, and also, break down the credibility of K-pop-related content if it spreads to ticket refunds, etc. "In order to protect IP, an intangible asset, the concert industry itself needs the strong regulations and the protective measures as well as strengthening the ethical awareness.“
original article: https://n.news.naver.com/enter…44/0000843768?lfrom=kakao
