Agency Wins Partial Victory Against Health Supplement Brand
Seoul High Court Rules in Favor of Plaintiff
Actress Han Yesul has won a partial victory in the second trial, following the first trial, in a lawsuit she filed against the operator of the health supplement brand Saenghwal Yakso, claiming unpaid advertising model fees.
On May 21, the Seoul High Court Civil Division 37-3 (Presiding Judges Sung Eonju, Lee Seungcheol, and Min Jeongseok) ruled in favor of Han's agency, Nopeun Entertainment, in a lawsuit against Next Player for model fees, upholding the first trial's decision. The court ordered, "The defendant must pay the plaintiff 660 million won," and Yonhap News reported this ruling on May 24.
In April 2022, Han and her agency signed a contract to serve as an advertising model for Next Player's health supplement brand, Saenghwal Yakso. According to the specific terms of the contract, Han was to appear a total of 22 times, including four video shoots and four print shoots, and in return, she was to receive 1.43 billion won in two installments of 715 million won each. The contract also stipulated that if any of the advertisements featuring Han were used even once, regardless of type, the full model fee would be paid.
However, Next Player paid only a total of 770 million won: 715 million won as the first installment in May?June 2022, and 55 million won as part of the second installment in March the following year. As a result, the agency filed a lawsuit demanding payment of the remaining second installment.
Next Player argued that the agency deliberately delayed the video shoot schedule, failed to fulfill obligations to upload content on social networking services (SNS), and did not cooperate with the shoots, which led the company to express its intention to terminate the contract and thus claimed it was not obligated to pay the second installment. However, the first trial court did not accept these arguments from the defendant.
The first trial court stated, "It is insufficient to recognize that the plaintiff did not cooperate with the shoots," and judged, "The defendant's expression of intent to terminate the contract is invalid." The court also found that it was difficult to attribute fault to the agency for requesting a change in concept because Han's image did not fit, or for delays in the schedule due to reasons such as Han contracting COVID-19, especially when the video shoot schedule had not been finalized. The first trial concluded, "Since advertisements featuring Han were used at least once, and no further shoots took place because Next Player failed to pay the second installment, the defendant is obligated to pay the plaintiff the second installment in accordance with the contract."
Next Player appealed the first trial's decision, but the appellate court also ruled that the initial verdict was valid and dismissed the appeal.
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