The anti-fan community, which received a ruling to pay 50 million won to Starship Entertainment for defaming Ive member Jang Won-young, has appealed the decision.

According to the legal community on the 19th, the operator of the anti-fan community, referred to as Mr. A, submitted an appeal against the court's ruling on the 18th ordering him to pay 50 million won to Starship Entertainment.

Previously, on the 4th, the Seoul Central District Court Civil 50th Division (Judge Choi Mi-young) ruled in favor of part of the plaintiff's claim in the damage compensation lawsuit filed by Starship Entertainment (hereafter Starship) against Mr. A, stating, "Mr. A must pay 50 million won to Starship Entertainment."

This is the result of Starship Entertainment filing a lawsuit for 100 million won in damages in November 2022, claiming that Mr. A seriously defamed them through the continuous distribution of false information, which not only interfered with their operations but also caused severe distress to artists and fans.

During the trial, Mr. A argued that he merely expressed his opinion and posted the videos for the public interest; however, the court did not accept Mr. A's claims. The court also stated that Mr. A's act of producing and posting the videos had sufficiently harmed Starship Entertainment's honor and credit, impacting the social evaluation to the extent that it interfered with their operations. Thus, it held Mr. A responsible for compensating the non-economic damages incurred by Starship Entertainment.

In particular, regarding the videos posted about Jang Won-young, the court pointed out, "Although the videos appear to be based on objective facts, those included by Mr. A are either arbitrarily edited or merely excerpts of unsubstantiated accusations against Jang Won-young, and they cannot serve as objective evidence; however, viewers may be misled into interpreting them as truthful content."

Considering the number of subscribers and views of the anti-fan community's channel, the court found that Mr. A's actions had adversely affected the image and activities of Ive, and consequently impacted the activities of Starship Entertainment. Regarding the scope of damages, the court explained, "Taking into account the content and number of each video, the standing of Starship Entertainment in the entertainment management industry, the significance of Ive and Jang Won-young within the agency, and the influence Mr. A had as a leading representative of the so-called 'cyber bullies,' with views ranging from 100,000 to 1 million per video."

Immediately after the ruling to pay 50 million won, Starship Entertainment stated, "Through this ruling, we believe that we have duly held the anti-fan community accountable for all possible civil and criminal liabilities, in addition to our legal responses regarding our artists. Furthermore, we evaluate that the operator will bear legal responsibility exceeding the economic benefits gained through illegal actions."

In addition, Starship emphasized, "We believe this case has sent a strong warning to those so-called 'cyber bullies' who profit from content that defames and insults the honor of others. We will clearly state that we will rigorously hold accountable for all illegal acts that defame our artists' honor, invade their privacy, and insult their dignity through continuous monitoring in the future."

Meanwhile, the operator of the anti-fan community, Mr. A, has been indicted for producing and posting YouTube videos defaming seven celebrities, including Ive's Jang Won-young, 23 times from October 2021 to June 2023 on charges (defamation, insult, etc.) under the Information and Communications Network Act, and received a sentence of two years in prison, suspended for three years, with an appeal ongoing. Separately, in a damage compensation lawsuit filed by Jang Won-young against Mr. A, the court also ruled that Mr. A must pay 50 million won to Jang Won-young.

Additionally, Mr. A was fined 10 million won for defaming Kang Daniel and received a ruling to pay 30 million won in a damage compensation lawsuit. Furthermore, he was also ordered to pay 76 million won in damages to BTS members V and Jungkook. However, Mr. A has submitted an appeal against these rulings.

[Photo] OSEN DB

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