Lee So-ra [Lee's Instagram]
Lee So-ra [Lee's Instagram]

Singer Lee So-ra has been engaged in a legal dispute with the head of a former agency, it emerged Tuesday.

According to Lee's agency Marehim, Lee filed a petition with the Incheon District Court in February seeking a seizure order on neighboring rights tied to 45 recordings — including "Baram-i Bunda" — against the former head of her previous agency Seiren, identified only by the surname Kim. The court granted the order.

Neighboring rights are rights granted, on a par with copyright, to those who do not directly create a work but play a role in bringing it to the public — by performing, singing, producing a recording or broadcasting it.

The seizure covers rights related to Lee's sixth studio album "Nunsseopidal," which features "Baram-i Bunda," as well as her seventh and eighth studio albums and a remake album, according to sources familiar with the matter.

"Although Seiren was an agency we had worked with for a long time, we concluded after weighing all circumstances that it was no longer possible to maintain a relationship of trust," Marehim said. "We are therefore taking the legal steps necessary to end our relationship with the former agency and protect the artist's legitimate rights and musical assets." The agency did not elaborate on the specific reasons.

Lee had been with Seiren before 2010, then moved to Erta Ale Entertainment around 2019, before joining her current agency Marehim more recently.


paq@heraldcorp.com