The Camp, the official Korean military app, recently acknowledged that they violated certain rights of the BTS members and has taken measures to resolve the issue.
On January 16, The Camp posted a notification on its official bulletin board, admitting that their mismanagement has led to inadvertent infringements of the rights of “a certain company” and that they have taken corrective actions to address the issue.
Further, the notice added that at the request of BIGHIT MUSIC, the agency of BTS, the app will remove all camps created under the names of BIGHIT artists. Even the spaces set up by users using the names of their artists will be suspended by February 9. The Camp also emphasized any user who tries to use a BIGHIT artist’s name without proper authorization after the termination, will be forced to close their space and might also be held legally responsible.
On January 9, BIGHIT MUSIC had issued a statement, revealing that they had filed a complaint with The Camp for violating the publicity rights of BTS by using their name and likeness without the permission of the members and their agency. Though BIGHIT revealed this information in January, The Camp had already taken action in response to this complaint in December last year by removing all of the BTS members from its Recommended Star Soldier” section, which lists currently enlisted idols and celebrities separately.
Back in December, Jang Cheol Min, the CEO of The Camp’s developer tech firm Enable Daon Soft, had said that BIGHIT MUSIC “misunderstood” the platform’s intentions. But given the latest development on this issue, it seems that BIGHIT MUSIC has been persistent in their demands.
Meanwhile, fans had reacted positively to The Camp’s removal of BTS from its “Star Soldier” list after showing concern over the possible exploitation of the members by the platform. Read more about it here.
