Tao's effort to abolish his exclusive contract with SM Entertainment has failed. SM Entertainment won the lawsuit filed by Tao as decided by the Seoul Central District Court on Friday, April 28.
As reported by Koreaboo, lawyers of the former EXO member Tao claimed that SM Entertainment's contract with his client was "biased". SM Entertainment sharply responded with a statement.
In SM Entertainment's statement, they claimed that Tao's contract with them had no problems whatsoever. The agency strongly claimed that the contract was following the regulations projected by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC).
In September of 2016, the court tried to Tao and SM Entertainment by reaching a compromise. This attempt was unfortunately unsuccessful, as reported by Soompi.
Both Tao and SM Entertainment still battled regarding the exclusive contracts duration, and distribution of income. Both camps even threw claims of discrimination against each other.
After winning the lawsuit, SM Entertainment then released a statement on the same day, April 28. In their statement, the agency stood by their philosophy of being the leader in the globalization of the Hallyu Wave and Korean culture as well.
"We are glad about the court's decision we want to share that we will continue to do business more actively in China and Asia," said SM Entertainment. "In addition, we will work towards having a more transparent nature with our entertainment contracts in the future. Not just in Korea but China and Asia as a whole."
SM Entertainment also won a different lawsuit versus Tao in January 2016. SM Entertainment claimed that Tao failed to repay the agency on Oct. 13, 2015.
The verdict was passed by the intermediate court in Qingdao, China and stated that Tao is to repay SM Entertainment for the said claim. Tao was also made to pay an interest for the delayed payment.
It was in April of 2015 that Tao left EXO and SM Entertainment. Tao then started performing and promoting himself in China almost immediately. Tao filed the lawsuit against the agency in August of the same year.
