Court rules ILLIT did not copy NewJeans

The court has ruled that it is difficult to conclude that ILLIT copied NewJeans.

On October 30 at 9:50 AM, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Division 41 (Judge Jung Hoe Il) delivered its verdict on the lawsuit filed by ADOR to confirm the validity of its exclusive contracts with the five members of NewJeans. The court stated, “The exclusive contracts signed between ADOR and NewJeans in 2022 are valid. The litigation costs will be borne by NewJeans.”

The court did not accept NewJeans’ claim that “HYBE attempted to replace NewJeans with ILLIT, which copied their concept.” The court added, “The project plans and photos of NewJeans and ILLIT do show some similarities, but it is difficult to view ILLIT as a replication of NewJeans. The ‘concept of a girl group’ cannot be considered part of intellectual property rights.”

The court further added, “Since ADOR, under CEO Min Hee Jin at the time, had sent an official letter to Belift Lab — ILLIT’s agency — regarding the copy allegations, it cannot be said that ADOR took no action on the issue.”

NewJeans and ADOR have been in a contractual dispute since November last year. At the time, NewJeans held an emergency press conference, citing a “breakdown of trust,” and announced that they would terminate their exclusive contracts with ADOR and continue their activities independently under the new name NJZ.

ADOR responded, saying, “Simply claiming a breakdown of trust cannot serve as grounds for termination,” and filed a lawsuit on December 3 to confirm the validity of the contracts. On January 6, ADOR also requested an injunction to preserve its management rights and to prohibit NewJeans from signing new advertising contracts.

After the court accepted ADOR’s injunction request in March, NewJeans’ activities came to a halt, and tensions between both sides continued during the main trial. Although NewJeans and ADOR went through two rounds of mediation, they failed to reach an agreement, leading to today’s final ruling.