Han Sung Soo, the CEO of Pledis Entertainment has decided to give up his rights to all IZ*ONE's. It was recently reported that Han Sung Soo had made an ill-gotten fortune from the royalties of IZ*ONE's songs by signing up his copyrights under the name of his spouse.
Han Sung Soo said that he only wanted to engage in the process of writing songs and wished to be paid for it. However, he admitted that collecting compensation under his wife's name was insensitive of him.
A Pledis Entertainment source has verified the story is correct. They told Sports Kyunghyang, "The news that CEO Han Sung Soo decided to give up his rights with all IZ*ONE's music and will refund the earnings he had wrongly collected under the name of his spouse is true.
The article notes that there were seven tracks for which he gave up his copyrights, but he would also give up his rights to the existing track 'We Together.' He now possesses no part of the tracks from IZ*ONE."
It was in May 2020, the CEO reportedly benefited unfairly from IZ*ONE's music royalties. An exclusive report published on May 26th by Dispatch said that the CEO is reported to have written and helped compose the lyrics in eight of IZ*ONE's tracks under the name "So Jay."
In fact, "We Together," a soundtrack established in September 2018 for Mnet's "Produce 48," didn't specifically say So Jay wrote it when it was published, but the identity was later confirmed after it has been included in IZ*ONE's first mini-album "COLOR*IZ."
In IZ*ONE's second mini-album, "HEART*IZ" and first studio album, "BLOOM*IZ," Jay was also given credit for the composition of "Violeta," "Destiny," and "Pink Blusher." As per the report conducted by Dispatch, Jay was therefore 1.5 times more involved in "Pink Blusher" than other people who were accredited for the track.
Until his retirement in March 2020, Han Sung Soo was IZ*ONE 's overall producer. "It was CEO Han Sung Soo who wants to take part in the album tracks and wanted to use the identity of his spouse not of his own," Pledis Entertainment answered back to the reports made by Dispatch.
"I personally was interested in the process of making music," said Han Sung Soo. "However, under the name of my mother, it remained unimaginable for me to earn royalties."
He added, "The only thing I wanted was that my effort and work should be compensated. For my involvement, I just want to be acknowledged. I haven't thought about it. I was naive and didn't maintain the integrity a producer ought to have. I'm sorry, and I deeply apologize."
Fans of different groups under Pledis Entertainment have conveyed their frustration in this matter and posted;
"Will this Chief Executive ever take lessons from his errors? He's already not doing good enough with NU'EST and Seventeen. Is it so hard to encourage these successful bands when he only has 2?! This is absolutely ludicrous yet unprofessional!"
"God, why does anyone who's linked to Pledis always seem to have problems? I'm curious what Big Hit will do because they have the controlling stake in Pledis already."
"Wow deeply pathetic this one, I'm wondering where this sort of individual come from and what kind of place did he grow up in to be so hungry for money? Only people without moral principles or education can do this."
