Speculation is mounting that K-pop girl group NewJeans are plotting their comeback, though that’s mainly based on sightings of certain members in the US and Denmark, possibly recording new material and planning a release campaign. Or possibly not. 

What we know for certain, however, is that the various legal dramas involving the group are set to continue throughout the summer, with K-pop powerhouse HYBE expanding on its allegations against their former label boss Min Hee-jin and sacked band member Danielle Marsh. 

And if that – and an accompanying Fair Trade Commission investigation in South Korea – wasn’t enough to be getting on with, the group is also facing a new copyright claim in the US over their 2023 hit ‘ETA’. 

As it currently stands, the NewJeans legal drama is mainly centred on the lawsuit filed by HYBE and its Ador agency, to which NewJeans are signed, against Min and Marsh. 

Min is accused of trying to move NewJeans to another agency after she fell out with HYBE and was pushed out of the top job at Ador. Marsh and her family are accused of colluding with Min on that big plan. 

In a court session last week, Ador presented evidence that it said proved Min was actively guiding and directing NewJeans after she had been sacked from Ador, and as they put out public statements firstly demanding that Min be reappointed and then announcing that they were quitting the agency. 

According to The Korea Herald, Ador presented an audio recording of a conversation that took place on 2 Sep 2024 in which Min allegedly discussed plans for NewJeans to stage a livestream to discuss her sacking. Nine days later the group went online to demand that Min be reinstated as Ador CEO. 

Ador also had evidence that seemed to show that Min was actively involved in NewJeans’ independent activities after they announced they were quitting Ador and before a Korean court said that that wasn’t an option and that the group’s members were still bound by their contracts with the HYBE agency. 

That includes involvement in NewJeans headline-grabbing appearance at ComplexCon Hong Kong in March 2025. Ador presented a performance agreement for that show which included a $500,000 consulting fee, which it alleged was paid to Min. The five members of NewJeans collectively received  $350,000 for their performance at the event.

All this evidence is an attempt to show that Min wasn’t informally advising NewJeans from afar after being pushed out of Ador, but was actively directing their decision making, and their ultimately unsuccessful moves to operate independently from HYBE. 

Ador also presented a contract signed between NewJeans and a company called AAO, a Chinese-backed entity founded by Bonnie Chan Woo, who is also CEO of Complex China. Under that agreement, it’s alleged, NewsJeans committed to keep AOO up to speed on their activities and dealings with Ador. 

During the same court session, Ador also set out its specific allegations against Marsh, seeking to justify why it sacked and sued her, while simultaneously reengaging the other members of NewJeans and starting work on new projects. 

The fact she has been targeted in this way, unlike her bandmates, was a key part of the complaint Marsh made to the South Korea Fair Trade Commission earlier this year, prompting the regulator to instigate a formal review into her dispute with HYBE and Ador. 

According to The Korea Times, Ador said Marsh violated her contract with the agency by pursuing a project with US band Emotional Oranges, taking part in photo shoots and working with a watch brand, all without Ador’s permission. They also raised the agreement with AAO. 

Marsh’s lawyers pushed back at those allegations, insisting no payment was made in relation to the Emotional Oranges collaboration, and arguing that the other projects involved all the members of NewJeans, the rest of whom have not been targeted with dismissal and legal action. 

And so, the legal dramas continue. And expand, with a new lawsuit being filed in the US courts by All Surface Publishing, which claims NewJeans’ 2023 release ‘ETA’ rips off 2005 dance track ‘Samir’s Theme’, which it publishes. It is suing Ador for copyright infringement. 

It’s not the first US-based copyright claim against NewJeans. In May, four LA-based songwriters sued, claiming that 2024 NewJeans track ‘How Sweet’ incorporated elements of a song they wrote for a South Korean agency that produces music for the K-pop group. 

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