Photobook Hyun Bin Circulates Without Permission in Japan, Agency Takes Legal Action

Kapanlagi.com - Agency Hyun Bin, VAST Entertainment, stated that they will take legal action against the publication of the actor's photobook in Japan. This is because the photobook was sold without permission from the agency.

On August 18th, Japanese media reported that the Hyun Bin photobook was taken while he was in the Marine Corps and will be reissued on September 7th. This idea was inspired by the popularity of Hyun Bin's drama titled CRASH LANDING ON YOU, in which he played a North Korean soldier.

1. Hyun Bin Photobook Distribution

Reported by Soompi, this book was previously published electronically in 2012. The book was also available offline in 2014 and had a contract with a Japanese publisher.

After the contract with Hyun Bin's agency ended, the book was taken by the Marines for the public but eventually resold. As is known, the Marines do not have the rights to the book.

2. Agency Takes Legal Action

Knowing this, Hyun Bin's agency will take legal action against the publishing company.

"Just like in 2014, we didn't hear anything about the re-publication in Japan. We saw the book available on Amazon Japan. After contacting the publisher, they claimed to be confused and thought that the Korean agency had given permission," said one source from the agency.

"In 2014, we initially didn't take legal action. But this time is different, for the past 10 years, the photos in the book were continuously taken for public use without prior approval. This is a matter of concern for the company. We recently discussed with a law firm and will take legal action," they added.

3. Source of Publication

Source from Planet Media, a domestic publisher that made an agreement for republication with a Japanese publisher, stated, "We only republish content that was published five years ago without any new material. This is about Marine Hyun Bin, not actor Hyun Bin, and it is published under an agreement between the publisher and the Marines, so the previous and current agency of Hyun Bin have no connection to it."

Unlike the source from the Marine Corps, they stated that they have just learned about this.

Source from the Marine Corps stated, "We first learned about the republication in Japan through news articles. The publisher did not make an agreement with the Marine Corps regarding this."

When asked if the Marines have plans to make an agreement in the future, the source stated, "We need to investigate this further."

(soo/lmp)