연예인전속계약 분쟁과 중재 - 아이돌 전속매니지먼트계약을 중심으로

Arbitrations for Resolution of Exclusive Entertainment Contract Disputes : Focused on Exclusive Management Contracts of Idols

This study analyzes the importance of the arbitration as a dispute resolution over exclusive contracts of entertainers in Korean entertainment industry, especially idol industry. In particular, with the recent global spread of K-pop and the rapid growth of the Korean idol industry, it pays attention to the fact that disputes related to exclusive contracts are frequently occurring. Against this background, this study first looks into the situation in the United States where entertainment industry cases involving celebrities’s exclusive contracts have been resolved rapidly and efficiently through arbitrations by arbitration clauses contained in the union's collective agreement to resolve disputes to which a agent or manager is party. Such a system needs to be modeled in the Korean entertainment industry. This study further analyzes the current status of exclusive contract disputes arising in Korean idol industry and finds that more speedy, efficient and proper dispute resolution can be achieved by using arbitrations provided by the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board, which have many advantages including, in particular, speediness, confidentiality, and arbitrators’ expertises. This study finally proposes arbitration can act as a more appropriate and practical solution in resolving exclusive contract disputes in the idol industry, thereby promoting stability and development of the industry as a whole.