"2NE1", whose "reunion for the first time in 7 years" has become Hot Topic, is it legally possible to do so in the first place?

Group "2NE1" reunited for the first time in seven years at the music festival "Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival" (hereinafter referred to as "Coachella") held in California, USA, and went up to the stage and attracted attention, but in the first place "2NE1" The rallying activity has become a hot topic among net users, probably because there is no legal problem.

In conclusion, working under the name "2NE1" can be legally problematic.

The trademark rights of the brand "2NE1" and the neighboring rights and copyrights of the songs released by "2NE1" currently belong to YG Entertainment and TEDDY, the composer and producer of rapper. All four members of "2NE1", CL, BOM, DARA, and Minzy, have left YG Entertainment and are working in a new management office, so to act as "2NE1", YG Entertainment is the copyright holder. Therefore, it is legally possible to carry out activities without any legal problems only by receiving prior consent or taking over the trademark right and paying a reasonable fee to the copyright holder when using the music work.

In the case of the stage of "Coachella" held in California on April 16th (US time), it seems that "2NE1" is reunited and active when looking at the results alone, but if you take a closer look, CL's Exclusive Three people participated in the stage as guests. This did not go on stage under the name "2NE1", so it is hard to say that it infringed the trademark right.

If you perform under the name of "2NE1" and release the album, you must ask YG Entertainment for prior consent or take over the trademark right. If a performance is held or an album is released without prior consent, the trademark will be infringed and the trademark owner can immediately file a civil or criminal proceeding. If it is concluded that the trademark is infringed, it may be punished by imprisonment with work for not more than 7 years and a fine of not more than 100 million won based on the Trademark Law.

Regarding the use of music works, the license must be obtained through a music copyright trust organization such as the Korea Music Copyright Association. In the case of "I'm the coolest" sung at "Coachella", it seems that the performance organizer gave permission to use the stage performance to the Korea Music Copyright Association and paid the cost.

When music users use music works for stage performances (concerts, plays, various events, etc.), Article 3 (foreign works), Article 17 (performance rights) and Article 46 of the Copyright Act According to the article (copyright license), it must be used after receiving a prior music license. In other words, if a music user uses a music work without prior permission, he or she may be sentenced to up to five years in prison, fined up to 50 million won or liable for damages for illegal activities.

A similar example is the boy group "Highlight" (former BEAST). "Highlight" members Yoon Doo Jun, Yang Yo Seob, Lee Gi Kwang, and Son Dong Woon have changed the name to "Highlight" instead of the group name "BEAST" that they have been using for seven years since their debut. .. They have established the office Around US Entertainment since the end of CUBE Entertainment and Exclusive Contract in 2016. At that time, CUBE Entertainment announced that it would not transfer the trademark right of "BEAST", so it was decided to work under the new group name "Highlight".