Pledis "Seventeen Ticket scalper sentenced to prison, fined 1 billion won... pursued to the end"

Q3 Legal Action Status UpdatePledis announced the legal action taken against malicious posts and professional ticket scalpers concerning its group Seventeen (Photo). /THE FACTDB[THE FACT | Reporter Jeong Byeong-geun] Pledis, the agency for TWS and others, announced the legal action taken against malicious commenters and professional ticket scalpers, vowing to pursue them relentlessly.Pledis announced the legal action status for the third quarter on the official fan community of Seventeen on the 28th, stating, "We are continuously taking legal action against the spread of false information, insults, and sexual slander against our artists." According to this, some of the professional scalpers were sentenced to over a year in prison and ordered to pay over 1 billion won in combined fines.Pledis stated, "We have filed lawsuits against malicious commenters and legal proceedings are currently underway for numerous cases. In particular, for a defendant indicted on charges of malicious defamation against an artist among the existing lawsuits, a fine of 2 million won was recently imposed in the first trial," adding, "We will continue to take legal action without any compromise against crimes that infringe upon artists' rights."Regarding ticket scalpers, he emphasized, "As a result of close cooperation with investigative agencies, some of the professional ticket scalpers recently apprehended were sentenced to prison terms of 1 year and 8 months and 1 year and 4 months, respectively, with a combined forfeiture of over 1 billion won. In addition to these individuals, investigative procedures are ongoing for other professional ticket scalpers, particularly those based overseas. We will pursue them to the end without leniency and respond sternly."Pledis announced its intention to continue legal action by monitoring acts that infringe upon artists' rights occurring across domestic and international online channels in real-time.Here is the full Pledis announcement.Hello.This is Pledis Entertainment.We are continuously taking legal action against the spread of false information, insults, and sexual slander against our artist Seventeen, based on our own monitoring data and active reports from fans, in order to protect the rights and interests of our affiliated artist and to strictly respond to malicious acts. We hereby inform you of the legal actions currently underway as of the third quarter of 2026.1. Notice on the Progress of Major Lawsuits Based on the collected evidence, we have filed lawsuits against the creators of malicious posts, and judicial proceedings are currently underway for numerous cases. In particular, for a defendant indicted on charges of malicious defamation against an artist among the existing lawsuits, a fine of 2 million won was recently imposed in the first trial. The defendant, disagreeing with this ruling, has filed an appeal, and the appellate trial is currently in progress. We will continue to respond strictly until the end to ensure that the defendant receives appropriate punishment in the appellate trial. We are responding without leniency to cases currently under investigation by investigative agencies, including this one, and will continue to take legal action without any compromise against future crimes that infringe upon the rights and interests of our artists.2. Response to Illegal Ticket Resale by Professional Scalpers We have been closely cooperating with investigative agencies to apprehend and punish professional scalpers who have been illegally reselling tickets for our affiliated artists' performances. As a result, some of the professional scalpers recently apprehended have been sentenced to actual prison terms of 1 year and 8 months and 1 year and 4 months, respectively, with a combined forfeiture of over 1 billion won. In addition to these individuals, investigative procedures are ongoing for other professional scalpers, particularly those based overseas, and we are actively cooperating with the requests of the investigative agencies. We will continue to pursue and strictly deal with illegal ticket resales by professional scalpers without leniency.3. Continuous Monitoring and Evidence Collection for Malicious Posts We utilize our proprietary real-time monitoring system to continuously collect evidence of artist rights infringement across various online channels, both domestic and international. This includes major online communities (DC Inside, Ilbe, FMKorea, TheQoo, Instiz, Yeoseongshidae, Jjukbbang Cafe, Nate Pann, Weverse, etc.), music platforms (Melon, Bugs Music, etc.), and social media platforms (X, Instagram, YouTube, Threads, etc.). Even if a post is immediately deleted, our monitoring system allows for the tracking of the author and the securing of evidence. The dissemination of false information that damages an artist's reputation, defamation, insults based on appearance or nationality, mockery, hate speech, sexual harassment, and sexual objectification are clear criminal offenses punishable by relevant laws. We will respond with a zero-tolerance policy, without any leniency or settlement.4. Fan Tip Submission Guidelines In addition to our ongoing monitoring, the tips you send us are of great help in proving criminal acts and identifying suspects. If you discover malicious posts that infringe on the rights and interests of our artists, please submit your tips in the format below. Submission Channel: HYBE Artist Rights Infringement Reporting Site Recommended Format: A full-screen capture of your PC or a PDF file (saved as PDF via the print menu) that includes the URL, the entire content of the post, information about the author, and the date of posting and capture.We sincerely thank our Carats for their unwavering support and love towards Seventeen. We will continue to do our best to protect the honor and rights of our artists.Thank you.[Entertainment Department | ssent@tf.co.kr]kafka@tf.co.kr