BTS’s company HYBE despatched a warning to the navy letter app The Camp for utilizing the faces and names of the BTS members serving within the navy with out permission. The company plans to think about authorized motion, saying it’s a “violation of publicity rights.” The proper to publicity refers back to the proper to acquire financial advantages through the use of one’s face, identify, and so forth.

Media shops acknowledged, “The faces and names of the BTS members are being used throughout the service without permission from the artist or BIGHIT MUSIC.”

The Camp is a service that enables relations and acquaintances to ship letters to enlisted trainees on-line by way of the cellular app and the Internet. After troopers go away the coaching middle and are assigned their items, they’ll go away feedback by way of the applying. After the launch of the app, the operator signed a enterprise settlement with the Republic of Korea navy and established itself as a military communication service.

The drawback started when the app began utilizing BTS’s IP (mental property rights) with out permission. HYBE found that a lot of BTS’s faces and names had been used within the platform’s Recommended Star Soldier service, a service offering details about the artists’ navy life and group service for the followers.

Additionally, they opened and operated particular person communities for the BTS members with the phrase “official” added to them. The company holds the administration rights of BTS’s official fan group. HYBE believed this successfully violated the company’s rights to function the official fan group.

They additionally offered dolls and soldier identify tags by way of their commerce channel, The Camp Mall and used the BTS members actual names on the tag. The dolls had been offered at a excessive worth and the company’s stance is that the artists’ identify additionally constitutes IP.

In reality, it was BTS’s followers who first raised the controversy over The Camp’s unauthorized use of the members. Fans hinted as a boycott of the service beforehand.

After receiving studies from followers, HYBE despatched an official letter to The Camp stating that this act was “violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act due to infringement of publicity rights” (unauthorized use of IP), “violation of the Electronic Commerce Act” (deception of followers and shoppers by way of official textual content), and so they warned that this constitutes a “violation of the Personal Information Protection Act” (disclosure of service info such because the artist’s wage, rank, and eating regimen).

In response to HYBE’s protest, The Camp administration took down BTS-related posts and stopped promoting the doll and artist identify tag package deal. However, it’s identified that the BTS group continues to be working and reportedly protested that it was a group created voluntarily by followers, not by the operator.

HYBE is contemplating authorized motion towards The Camp and argued, “Using the IP of an artist who has enlisted in the military for free is shaking the foundation of the entertainment industry, which has spent a lot of capital to discover and nurture artists. We can not give them immunity just because they are a startup.” At the identical time, HYBE identified, “In fact, it is a trick to continue enjoying the promotional effects of BTS’s fandom, and it is an indication of the will to continue free riding.”

Meanwhile, The Camp didn’t make an official assertion concerning the controversy over BTS’ publicity rights infringement, saying, “We have nothing to say.”

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