The organizers of the “ENHAFESTIVAL: Day 1” that will happen in Manila on Jan. 7 explained their side after K-pop boy band ENHYPEN’s management warned against the unauthorized event due to intellectual property (IP) violations.
On Jan. 5, Belift Lab, ENHYPEN’s agency, issued a notice, warning fans against “ENHAFESTIVAL: Day 1”
“We would like to inform you about the paid event using ENHYPEN’s IP without our company’s authorization,” Belift Lab said.
The agency warned, “This event is an unauthorized paid event that sold tickets by using the content of BELIFT LAB without our authorization. If the event host pushes ahead with this event, we will take legal actions for infringement of intellectual property.”
After the company issued the notice, the organizers of “ENHAFESTIVAL: Day 1” issued a statement.
Here is the full text of their statement:
January 5,2023
Hello, this is ALWAYS TOGETHER: The Festival.
We would like to inform the public of the status of ALWAYS TOGETHER: The Festival, a fan event scheduled on January 7. 2023. The organizers hereby present a full disclosure about a legal matter concerning BELIFT LAB, ENHYPEN's music label.
Last November 3.2022.our team was contacted by the legal representative of BELIFT LAB in the Philippines with regards to ENHAFESTIVAL: DAY 1. Below are the important points of the organizer's correspondence with BELIFT LAB's legal team:
1. On November 3, 2022, BELIFT LAB expressed their concern on the potential copyright infringement on the band name ENHYPEN, which is currently the basis and highlight of the event name, ENHAFESTIVAL: DAY 1.
BELIFT LAB's legal team asked about the complete details of the events, including the event partners (fansites, fanbases, and traders), as well as the source of funding and promotion/markting strategy, for the reason of "checking out events" made by fans.
2. On November 15. 2022, the organizers of ENHAFESTIVAL: DAY 1 submitted a full report of Event Proposals and Memorandums of Agreement with Event Partners in response to BELIFT LAB's reguirement. We have explicitly stated that ENHAFESTIVAL:
DAY 1 is a fan-organized event whose sole purpose is to gather ENGENEs and celebrate ENHYPEN together.
Among the important details were noted:
- That ENHAFESTIVAL: DAY 1 is a non-profit event:
- That ENHAFESTIVAL: DAY 1 is a fan-organized event dedicated to ENHYPEN, similar to all other fan-made events held in the country and worldwide, and follows a format similar to such events:
- No fansite photo will be sold (as fansites have sternly imposed as well): and
To assure the above statements. all necessary financial documents and reports will be sent to BELIFT LAB and will be accessible to the public.
3. On November 15, 2022, BELIFT LAB asked for the list of event partners (fansites, fanbases, and traders) participating in the event. The organizers refused to provide this information to protect our partners' privacy.
The organizers did not receive feedback from BELIFT LAB on this.
4. On December 15.2022. BELIFT LAB's legal team invited the organizers to a Zoom meeting to further discuss their client's concern. At this point, BELIFT LAB explicitly expressed the following:
- To strongly recommend the cancellation of ENHAFESTIVAL: DAY 1;
. To refrain from using ENHYPEN to promote any event; and
- To avoid potential copyright infringement by not holding a similar event in the future.
In response, we have informed the legal team of the following:
- We cannot cancel the event as we are at 70% completion towards D-Day;
- We cannot provide a refund to the attendees since the funds have already been exhausted;
- Should we proceed or cancel, we can provide a full disclosure of this correspondence to all parties involved (Event Partners and Attendees)
- Event Partners and Attendees are highly anticipating the event. and canceling it will potentially dampen the credibility of the organizers as well as BELIFT LAB's, given the full disclosure factor; and
We are Willing to reformat the event and change the event name as a compromise since ENHAFESTIVAL · DAY 1 is etymologically sourced from the name ENHYPEN.
The organizers of ENHAFESTIVAL: DAY 1 have then decided to proceed and reformat the event to ALWAYS TOGETHER: The Festival, and overhaul the program and its features. We asked if they can provide feedback on our proposal.
5. Only yesterday, January 4, 2023, however, that we received a notice from the legal representatives of BELIFT LAB in the Philippines, issuing a cease and desist order, demanding that we cancel the event to avoid a copyright violation lawsuit. and we were given until today, January 5.2023. to come to a decision.
This put us in a compromised situation where we should not only think about the efforts we exerted, but most importantly, the safety of all participants of the event.
Despite our efforts to prove that we are a non-profit organization. as well as offers of access to all our documents and financial statements, BELIFT LAB still demanded that we cancel the event. on the following bases:
- Potential copyright infringement by using BELIFT LAB content (images and videos);
- Using the name of ENHYPEN to promote an event (as verbally stated by their legal representative via phone calls and Zoom meeting "As long as you use the name ENHYPEN' it has potential copyright breach"); and
- Using the name of ENHYPEN for profit.
We have iterated countless times that ENHAFESTIVAL: DAY 1 or now called as ALWAYS TOGETHER: The Festival is a harmless, fan-organized, non-profit event. created to promote ENHYPEN and for the enjoyment of ENGENEs, something that has been similarly done over the years by many fandoms. This is also what we have consistently presented ever since our first correspondence with BELIFT LAB's legal representatives.
Just like other fan events, our sole purpose is to let fans come together to celebrate our idols. We are not, in any way, making profit off of the event.
We regret to say that this is not the response we expected from BELIFT LAB, and we are deeply disappointed that we did not get the same treatment as other similar existing fan projects and those that have already been concluded.
Needless to say, it is with heavy hearts that we announce that as of our email to BELIFT LAB's legal representatives yesterday, January 4, 2023 at 11:46 PM PHT, ALWAYS TOGETHER: The Festival has been canceled.
We ought to send an event cancellation notice to all our attendees this morning, but unfortunately, we were caught in a blindside by the Weverse Notice to all registered members/subscribers, despite that we were told to keep this matter confidential and have been given until today to announce our decision.
Regardless, we will be reaching out to attendees with regards to compensation and other concerns, and will do our best to arrive at an amicable solution. Rest assured that all personal information of all participants is kept secured. Likewise, we humbly request everyone to refrain from sharing private information and create more uncertainty and misinformation.
Meanwhile, attached is ALWAYS TOGETHER: The Festival's Financial Report, prepared by a Certified Public Accountant that has volunteered to assist with bookkeeping and financial reporting.
Finally, we sincerely apologize for the confusion and distress this issue has brought to ENGENEs.
Thank you for your understanding.
ALWAYS TOGETHER: The Festival Team