The contract for Mnet's girl group audition program "Produce 101" has been leaked, causing controversy over what some perceive as unfair terms for the contestants.
According to Korean news outlet Ilgan Sports, although the leaked contract does contain some basic guidelines, other parts managed to shed light on some of the conditions that the girls must follow.
The show's contract states contestants on the show are not allowed take legal action based on the way the show edits clips. In addition, none of the contestants will receive any pay for appearing on the program and are forbidden from revealing any information about the show.
Any profits from music releases are split evenly between CJ E&M and the agencies of the trainees. In addition, production cost will be split between the trainee's original agencies.
"It is unfortunate that the contract details were leaked to uninvolved third parties," a high-ranking employee for "Produce 101" told OSEN news in response to the controversy. "The terms of the contract are the legal standard for those appearing on broadcast. The parts referencing editing and information leakage are there to protect the rights of the program editors and minimize spoilers of the show."
"We will work carefully to make sure there are no more worries about the production of 'Produce 101,'" the insider concluded.
The sections referenced stated, "Contestants may not pursue any legal action (including temporary injunctions and press arbitration) against the company or sue for defamation based on any netizen reactions or influence on viewers due to the editing, changing, cutting, rearranging, subtitles, revisions of the contestant's likeness."
When asked about this section, the production team stated, "Those are standard legal contract terms and are meant to protect ourselves legally, not distort the facts."
The audition program which features 101 girl group trainees from 46 entertainment agencies vying for a spot in a soon-to-debut 11 member girl group.
