The so-called “Lee Seung-gi Prevention Act”, which requires entertainment agencies to provide accounting records to their affiliated artists, has passed the National Assembly. Lee Seung-gi’s accusations against Hook Entertainment have ultimately played a decisive role in breaking the longstanding malpractice in the entertainment industry.
According to the National Assembly on September 27th, the amendment to the “Act on the Development of Popular Culture and Arts Industry” proposed by Representative Kim Seung-soo of the People Power Party, has been approved in the plenary session. The amendment includes provisions that grant the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism the legal authority to investigate unfair practices in the popular culture and arts industry and obligates entertainment agencies to provide accounting records, including ledgers, to their affiliated artists. This amendment was prompted by Lee Seung-gi’s case, in which he did not receive proper settlements for his music and album earnings for 18 years since his debut in 2004.
Representative Kim Seung-soo stated, “Behind the rapid growth of our country’s popular culture and arts industry, there have been unjust practices like the ‘Lee Seung-gi incident’ that shocked the entire nation. We hope that the passage of this amendment will break the chain of these wrongful practices and injustices.”
He continued, “In the future, popular culture and arts practitioners will receive fair compensation for their work. As a member of the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee, I will continue to strive to eradicate outdated unfair practices in the culture and arts industry and to protect the rights of artists.”
Lee Seung-gi’s current agency, Big Planet Entertainment, pointed out last May, “Even though all agencies were required to maintain separate accounting records for each artist under the 2014 Act on the Development of Popular Culture and Arts Industry, Hook Entertainment admitted in court that they had not done so.”
Lee Seung-gi won the first trial in his settlement dispute with Hook Entertainment. Hook Entertainment paid him 5.4 billion won (approx. 4.1 million USD) in settlement fees, and Lee Seung-gi donated 5 billion won to charity after deducting legal costs. During the trial on the 13th, a recording was submitted to the court revealing how Hook Entertainment had labeled Lee Seung-gi as a ‘negative profit singer.’
Source: TenAsia
