Fans side with IST Entertainment in The Boyz's ongoing trademark dispute, saying that IST's conditions are 'reasonable'

Details of the conditions outlined by IST Entertainment for the free use of the group name The Boyz by the members at their new agency, ONE HUNDRED, have been revealed. 

According to media outlet reports on December 4 KST, the suggested agreement between IST Entertainment and ONE HUNDRED, which would allow The Boyz to continue using their group name free of charge, includes the following conditions:

1. The Boyz will continue to receive earnings from their past music releases and contents distributed by IST Entertainment for 1-year after the expiration of their exclusive contracts. 

2. IST Entertainment will permanently retain ownership of all master rights (sound recording rights) to all music released by The Boyz since their debut. ONE HUNDRED will agree not to remake or remaster any original songs released by The Boyz under IST. Instead, if The Boyz wish to use these songs for their future activities, IST will require permission and payment. 

3. IST Entertainment maintains the right to continue selling the remaining inventory of The Boyz's official merchandise.

Lastly, the agreement permitting the free use of the group name and trademark will be renewed annually with the consent of all 11 members. 

While ONE HUNDRED initially claimed that IST Entertainment made "unreasonable financial demands" and even placed "restrictions on the group's activities", after confirming the conditions for themselves, many fans sided with IST Entertainment, arguing that the above conditions are in fact, "quite reasonable". 

In the case of the first condition, it was pointed out that this is typically the norm for most agreements in which artists transfer from one agency to another. In the case of the second condition, fans wondered why ONE HUNDRED was against IST maintaining the master rights to The Boyz's past music, unless the label "intended on rerecording the songs for profit". Fans felt that it was in fact "right" for IST to receive a fee from ONE HUNDRED for the use of past songs released by The Boyz, as the record label which originally invested in the production of the music. (The Boyz members who participated as composers and writers for these songs will continue to receive royalty payments separately.) Finally, the in the case of the third condition, fans again found it "understandable" for IST to continue selling its current inventory of The Boyz merchandise, rather than discarding them. 

Fans left comments criticizing ONE HUNDRED for its failure to move forward with the negotiations, saying,

"Those fees are just fees that you're supposed to pay to a company that invested in an artist's growth for 7 years... if you don't want to pay it, don't try to recruit already successful artists for free!"

"This company just wants to mooch off of The Boyz's success without taking on any of the responsibilities..."

"This company is full of thieves... Why don't they try debuting rookies and see how successful they can make them in 7-years? Oh wait, they tried and it's not working out for them is it!"

"Those conditions are perfectly reasonable for free use of the group's name."

"Obviously, this is business. Did they seriously expect to use the group's name without paying a dime?"

"I don't understand how any of those conditions are 'unreasonable'."

"Why did The Boyz fall for this dumb company's schemes TT. IST honestly treated them well."

"This is the same stunt they pulled with Baekhyun and EXO-CBX... They need to pay the company that originally invested in the production of the music! I wonder if they even paid SM for the songs or if they're still trying to get away with making free money."

"The fans want the members to keep their group name. If the company can't support the members and the fans in their wishes, then that means it's not fit to take on the responsibilities of managing an artist of this size."