Chairman Cha Ga-won. Provided by Onehundred

Over online concert streaming rights for the group THE BOYZ, artist intellectual property (IP) solutions firm Nomus and Onehundred, which represents the group, are locked in a heated dispute. Nomus asserts “unilateral termination” and has decided to cancel bookings and issue refunds, whereas Onehundred contends it was “a justified termination due to frequent server failures and lack of communication” and has signaled strong legal action.

■Nomus “We entered into an exclusive contract and made payment, but suffered a unilateral termination”

Nomus stated on the 15th that it had concluded an exclusive contract with Onehundred for streaming THE BOYZ online concert and had even made payment, but then received a unilateral notice refusing to carry out the project.

Nomus added, “Despite the contract, Onehundred opened concert streaming ticket sales with another company,” and continued, “Although Nomus is the legal rightsholder for the project, to prevent confusion among the artist and fans, we will suspend sales of THE BOYZ concert live streaming as of now and issue full refunds.”

■Onehundred “Improvements followed past server failures … the essence is a breakdown of trust”

In response, Onehundred issued an immediate rebuttal, arguing that responsibility for terminating the contract lay entirely with Nomus due to technical defects and an insincere attitude.

Hyun Dong-yeop, legal representative for Onehundred, explained, “During the live service of Nomus’s fandom platform ‘Fromm’, serious server failures and device overheating occurred even with a relatively small number of around 1,000 concurrent users,” adding, “Despite requests for correction, there was no improvement at all, so entrusting this concert, which is expected to attract large-scale traffic, to an unstable system was deemed a betrayal of the fans.”

Onehundred drew a line, stating that switching the platform to a provider equipped with a very stable transmission system for high-definition streaming was a reasonable management decision to safeguard the viewing rights of fans. It further pointed out that during the concert preparation process, Nomus refused communication and acted insincerely, fundamentally damaging the relationship of trust.

■From allegations of a hostile takeover to forensic evidence… a legal fight escalating into a broader confrontation

The conflict between the two sides shows a deep rift that goes beyond streaming rights. Earlier, representatives for Cha Ga-won criticized the dispute with Nomus as “an illegal scheme carried out by Nomus in collusion with Cha Jun-young and The Fact to hostilely acquire Big Planet Entertainment,” and disclosed that they were holding an advance payment for the purpose of offsetting against a damages claim.

Regarding the current matter of the THE BOYZ concert, Onehundred stated, “As a result of privately verifying KakaoTalk conversations with the head of Nomus through forensic analysis, we confirmed that a substantial portion of Nomus’s current claims are clearly at odds with the actual facts.” Onehundred emphasized that it would apply a zero-tolerance principle to malicious assertions and distortions of fact and pursue all available civil·criminal legal measures based on the evidence secured.