Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
MADTOWN have won their lawsuit against GNI Entertainment, effectively freeing them from their contracts, at least temporarily.
After debuting under J.Tune Camp, they were sold to GNI in 2016 when JTC was shuttered. Then back in February, it was revealed that GNI’s CEO was being charged with fraud, and in September, MADTOWN filed suit against the company. Thankfully, the court has recently granted an injunction on the contracts of the members with their agency.
On November 8, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in MADTOWN’s favor in the group’s lawsuit against GNI Entertainment for injunctions on the members’ exclusive contracts with the agency. With this court ruling, MADTOWN is no longer bound by the terms of their contracts; GNI Entertainment no longer has the authority to enforce the contract terms, nor can they raise issue with the members’ individual entertainment activities.
The group itself is likely to disband, according to their lawyer, but at least now the individual members can do whatever they choose to do without a burden of a contract with an essentially defunct company hanging over them.
Sun Jong Moon, the lawyer representing MADTOWN’s case, stated, “We wanted to be hopeful about the case and had expected to prevail. We are grateful for this positive outcome, which will grant the members their freedom.” He added, “It appears that the members will each choose their own paths for the future.” The lawyer had previously stated on November 7 that the group was likely to disband.
That said, as their lawyer points out, the fight is still not over. MADTOWN must win in court yet again against GNI to get their contracts nullified.
According to Sun Jong Moon, the lawsuit that the group filed against the agency for contract nullification is still ongoing. He explained, “We are still in the midst of litigation. Although this lawsuit was decided in MADTOWN’s favor, we must win the [nullification] lawsuit in order to become completely free from GNI.”
Though hopefully the latest ruling is a sign of things to come.
