Information from JYJ and SM Entertainment's 4th hearing revealed

 

On March 15th, JYJ, who were not present, and SM Entertainment had their 4th hearing since the contractual dispute broke out in 2009. Earlier on, various rumors surfaced that the hearing had been canceled and postponed again, but these were shot down as the hearing went on as planned.


 
SM Entertainment had sent Mr. Yoon, a treasurer from their financial department to the hearing. During a cross examination session, Mr. Yoon stated that net profit in 2008 was 14.7 billion KRW, of which 1 billion KRW was earned by TVXQ. JYJ's lawyer contested the statement, asking "Then who earned the rest of the money?" to which Mr. Yoon stated "It’s earned by BoA, CSJH, Ara, TRAX!" JYJ's lawyer then asked, "So are you saying that they earned more money?" to which Mr. Yoon did not reply.

 
It was revealed in regards to TVXQ's 2004 debut album, "Hug," SM only counted March and April sales for the five members. From then on, no "Hug" album profits went to the members' pockets.

 
TVXQ received 10% of digital album sales in 2008 but in 2009, the clause was completely omitted on the income distribution. Also, TVXQ received 900 million KRW despite earning 3.4 billion KRW with their World Tour. SM kept 900 million KRW to pay for production costs.

 
In regards to TVXQ's 2009 Korean comeback album, "Mirotic," Mr. Yoon stated that "Mirotic" sold 480,000 copies. According to their contract, TVXQ would be paid 5 million KRW if album sales exceeded 500,000. However, JYJ's lawyer countered SM's number as they provided evidence that "Mirotic" had actually sold 540,000 copies. To this, Mr. Yoon commented, "Well actually, we were only going to pay them on the condition that another album is released." At this point, the judge had heard enough and said, "Stop. [Excuse] not accepted." The judge then warned that if SM does not and continues to not provide relevant documents, the courts will forcefully order the document.

 
Previously hearings had revealed that TVXQ had to pay expenses, but fans were unaware of what kind of expenses they were. This hearing revealed that rent for their dorm, the salary for their housekeeper, the salary for their security guards, electric bills, snack foods and even the parking and gas expenses of SM officials were paid by TVXQ.

 
The next court hearing is scheduled for April 19th at 2PM.