Director Shin Woo-seok Posts Statement Requesting Apology from ADOR (CEO Kim ********) and ADOR Issues Rebuttal Statement
Good morning. CEO Kim Ju-young and Deputy CEO Lee Do-kyung, I have recordings and emails, so please stop lying. And in ADOR’s statement, you labeled me as someone spreading false information—so why are you desperately trying to contact me behind the scenes to placate me? You can’t even protect your own employees, yet you’re pinning false accusations on others. Is this how you’ve been doing business all along? It’s been a while since we’ve been subjected to this kind of power abuse, so it’s not easy to adjust.
If this is how bad it is for us who work in a different industry, I can’t even imagine how much worse it must be for those working in the entertainment industry. I received legal advice, and as per our original agreement, ownership of the Ban Heesoo channel belongs to Dolphiners Films. However, the rights to the channel aren’t particularly important to Dolphiners Films. For us, it’s enough that the Ban Heesoo channel simply continues to exist as an extension of our work. This was a channel created from the start without any compensation, purely for the fans, and I no longer want to see fans anxious that it might be permanently deleted amid this dispute. I considered transferring the channel to the fan club, but I couldn’t think of a good way to do it. So I intend to transfer ownership of the channel to ADOR. However, only under the condition of absolute preservation. The channel must be operated under the principle of absolute preservation—nothing may be deleted, modified, or added.
And I have only one demand. Apologize.
If an apology including these points is posted through ADOR’s official channels by today, Dolphiners Films will transfer the Ban Heesoo channel to ADOR. All ADOR needs to do is apologize. All we want is for ADOR to acknowledge its wrongdoing and resolve this situation for the sake of the fans who must be confused. So don’t be a coward and add unnecessary words—just apologize. If there is no apology, I will look for a way to transfer the Ban Heesoo channel to the fans and sue ADOR for defamation with evidence of our original agreement.
And I told you to stop, but you did it again—stop distorting the truth with your dirty media play. I’m sure you’ll keep doing it anyway.
Hello. This is ADOR.
Under the music video production service contract between ADOR and Dolphiners Films, all rights to the music video as well as derivative works belong to ADOR. Therefore, posting videos containing NewJeans IP on the Dolphiners Films channel without ADOR’s approval is a clear violation of the service contract.
For this reason, ADOR simply sent Dolphiners Films a request along with the contract provisions, stating: “Please provide evidence (email or KakaoTalk acceptable) of an agreement and approval regarding the use of copyrights and artist likeness rights, or if there is none, please take down the ‘Director’s Cut.’” Protecting the artists’ intellectual property is something a label is obligated to do. If Dolphiners Films has any agreement with ADOR, they simply need to present it. Without receiving any evidence regarding this matter, ADOR has no choice but to follow protocol to protect the artists’ intellectual property.
It is also a clear fact that ADOR received a request regarding the posting of NewJeans’ “ETA Music Video Director’s Cut” produced by Dolphiners Films, asking to “delete the portions featuring the advertiser’s brand or take down the video.” (The image below is a Slack message that was internally reported at the time.)
ADOR never told Dolphiners Films to delete the videos uploaded to the Ban Heesoo channel. The Ban Heesoo channel is an account created by an ADOR staff member in accordance with our “Online Channel Creation Guidelines.” ADOR merely conducted a fact-checking process regarding the “ETA Music Video Director’s Cut” video to protect the artists’ copyrights; we never mentioned the Ban Heesoo channel. ADOR also does not want the Ban Heesoo channel to disappear. Dolphiners Films is welcome to continue operating the channel. We simply ask that you honor what was agreed upon through the contract regarding the artists’ intellectual property.
The overreaction of deleting all content in response to our pointing out Dolphiners Films’ contract violation does not seem like an act born out of a creator’s genuine distress, nor does it seem like an act done for the sake of NewJeans and the fans. We hope there will be no more instances of holding a YouTube channel hostage to amplify the anxiety of the artists and fandom.
We apologize to the NewJeans members and Bunnies for causing concern with this unnecessary controversy. ADOR will make every effort to resolve this matter as quickly as possible based on the accurate facts.
Thank you.
