IST Entertainment refutes claims from THE BOYZ’s new label of trademark rights negotiations falling through

IST Entertainment has refuted claims from ONE HUNDRED, THE BOYZ’s new label, about failed negotiations over the group’s trademark rights.

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THE BOYZ’s contracts with longtime label IST Entertainment are set to expire today (December 5), with the 11-piece continuing group activities under a new label, ONE HUNDRED.

ONE HUNDRED shared a statement on Tuesday (December 3) revealing that negotiations with IST Entertainment for the band’s trademark rights had fallen through.

“ONE HUNDRED has done its utmost to negotiate with IST Entertainment regarding the trademark rights. The members themselves also worked tirelessly until the very end, even until today, to retain the trademark rights for the sake of their fans,” it wrote, per translation by Soompi.

The company said that it “found IST Entertainment’s conditions to be unreasonable and could not accept them”.

On December 4, IST Entertainment refuted these claims. “Contrary to what has been reported, we have decided to provide all 11 members of THE BOYZ with the right to use their trademark free of charge, and we have already conveyed this intention to the members,” its statement read, per Soompi. 

“We also intended to make it possible to use the trademark free of charge in any activity (including unit and group activities) to which the 11 members agreed.”

IST Entertainment further pointed out that it allowed an unidentified member of THE BOYZ to end his contract five months early “in order to support his activities under his new agency”. It has also called ONE HUNDRED’s claims of excessive prices and unreasonable demands “completely untrue”.

“Out of the desire to support the permanence of THE BOYZ, a group that is receiving lots of love from the public, and their ability to meet their fans without any barriers, we thought it was more correct to give the members themselves the right to use their trademark free of charge,” IST wrote.