[theqoo] ADOR'S STATEMENT

Ador, the agency for the group NewJeans, responded to director Shin Woo-seok from Dolphin Kidnapper, who demanded an apology, by saying that he "overreacted to their pointing out a breach of contract" and that "as long as the promises made in the contract are kept, there should be no issue."

On the 9th, Ador released a statement on their official social media addressing Shin Woo-seok’s demand for an official apology earlier that morning. Ador explained that their contract with Dolphin Kidnapper for the production of the music video clearly states that all rights, including the music video and derivative works, belong to Ador. They also stated that posting a video featuring NewJeans' intellectual property (IP) on Dolphin Kidnapper's channel without permission was a clear violation of the service agreement.

Ador added that they simply asked Dolphin Kidnapper to either provide proof of permission (like an email or message) to use the artist's IP and likeness or to remove the "Director's Cut" video. They emphasized that it's the label's responsibility to protect the artist's work.

Ador also clarified that they received a request to have the "Director's Cut" of NewJeans' "ETA" music video edited or taken down due to parts of the video that reflected the advertiser’s brand. However, they never demanded the removal of a video from the "Ban Hee-soo" channel, which was created by an Ador employee following the company's guidelines. They only sought to verify the "Director's Cut" video to protect the artist’s copyright and reiterated that Dolphin Kidnapper is welcome to continue running their channel, as long as the agreed-upon terms of the contract are followed.

Finally, Ador stated that deleting all content in response to the claim of a contract breach seemed neither to be an action stemming from a genuine sense of creator’s suffering nor something that would benefit NewJeans or their fans. They added that they hope such actions, which increase anxiety for the artist and the fandom, do not happen again.

"Hello, this is ADOR.

In the contract between ADOR and Dolphin Kidnapper for the production of the music video, all rights, including the music video itself and any derivative works, are owned by ADOR. Therefore, posting a video that includes NewJeans' intellectual property (IP) on Dolphin Kidnapper’s channel without ADOR’s approval is a clear breach of the contract.

For this reason, ADOR simply asked Dolphin Kidnapper to either provide proof (such as emails or messages) of an agreement and approval for the use of the copyright and the artist’s likeness, or, if no such proof exists, to take down the "Director's Cut" video. Protecting the artist’s work is a basic responsibility of the label. If Dolphin Kidnapper has any agreement with ADOR, they can present it. Since no proof has been provided, ADOR has no choice but to follow the rules to protect the artist's work.

It is also true that ADOR received a request to remove or edit the "Director's Cut" of NewJeans’ "ETA" music video due to parts that reflected the advertiser’s brand. (Below is an image of the Slack message that was reported internally at the time.)

ADOR never asked Dolphin Kidnapper to delete videos from the Ban Hee-soo channel. The Ban Hee-soo channel was created by an ADOR staff member following the company's "online channel creation guidelines." ADOR only conducted a fact-check on the "ETA Director's Cut" video to protect the artist's copyright, and we have never mentioned the Ban Hee-soo channel. ADOR also does not want the Ban Hee-soo channel to disappear, and Dolphin Kidnapper is welcome to continue operating the channel. However, we ask that you adhere to the contractual agreements regarding the artist’s work.

We don’t believe that deleting all content in response to pointing out a breach of contract reflects the genuine pain of the creator or benefits NewJeans and their fans. We hope that no further actions will be taken that increase anxiety for the artist and the fandom by using the YouTube channel as leverage.

We apologize to the NewJeans members and Bunnies (the fanbase) for the unnecessary controversy and any distress this may have caused. ADOR will work to resolve this issue as quickly and accurately as possible.

Thank you."