The production company Dolphiners Film, which produced girl group NewJeans’ music video, did not accept the court’s ruling ordering NewJeans’ agency ADOR to pay ₩1.00 billion KRW (about $675,000 USD) in damages.
Director Shin Woo Seok and Dolphiners Film filed an appeal on the 20th against the first-instance judgment in the damages lawsuit filed by ADOR against them.
At the same time, Dolphiners Film applied for a stay of compulsory execution. Provisional execution is a system that allows the winning party to enforce the judgment before it is finalized to expedite the realization of their rights and prevent the losing side from appealing just to delay enforcement. In cases requiring monetary payment, provisional execution is generally ordered. Accordingly, the plaintiff who received the ruling can initiate provisional execution procedures for compensation at any time.
However, the losing party can apply for a stay of execution to block enforcement. Courts often grant a stay of execution on condition of providing collateral, such as cash deposits or submitting a surety insurance certificate.
Earlier, the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 62 ruled on the 13th that “Dolphiners Film must pay ADOR ₩1.00 billion KRW (about $675,000 USD) and delayed interest,” adding that “the amount can be provisionally enforced.” The claim for damages against director Shin Woo Seok personally was dismissed.
This dispute began in August 2025 when Dolphiners Film posted a director’s cut version of NewJeans’ “ETA” music video on their YouTube channel. When ADOR requested the video’s removal, Director Shin deleted other NewJeans-related videos posted on another unofficial channel, leading to a confrontation.
ADOR responded, “We only requested the suspension of the posting of the “ETA” director’s cut video. We never asked for the deletion or suspension of all NewJeans-related videos on other channels. Director Shin is spreading false information.”
Director Shin then filed a defamation suit, claiming his reputation was damaged by ADOR’s statement. ADOR filed a damages lawsuit based on ownership of the videos.
During the trial, former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin appeared as a witness and supported Dolphiners Film, stating that prior verbal consent had been given to separately post the director’s cut of the “ETA” music video. However, the court ultimately ruled in favor of ADOR.