On Dec. 14, Wednesday, several Chinese media outlets reported that SM Entertainment's lawsuit against former EXO member Tao over his activities in the Chinese entertainment industry has been dismissed.
Tao's lawyer stated that the Chinese court agreed that the idol was entitled to use his own name and image while performing in China. Therefore, the judge disapproved of the singer's exclusive contract with SM Entertainment and rejected the agency's lawsuit against Tao, according to All Kpop. The lawyer also argued that SM Entertainment is trying to tarnish Tao's reputation and obstruct his activities by taking legal action.
SM Entertainment issued an official statement in the wake of the court's decision. "The lawsuit in question is one of many lawsuits that are currently under deliberation by Chinese courts," Soompi quoted the label as saying. "We plan to appeal the decision immediately, citing a problem in the interpretation of the articles stated in Chinese domestic law. This has no correlation to the lawsuit that was filed in Korea, and all lawsuits that were filed [against Tao] are still ongoing."
This particular lawsuit was filed by SM Entertainment at a Beijing court in September 2015. The suit alleged that Tao violated the exclusive contract between him and the agency with his entertainment activities in China and should be prohibited from carrying on any further activities until the contract expires or is nullified.
Tao filed a suit to terminate his contract with SM Entertainment in August last year, months after his informal exit from EXO. Since then, SM Entertainment has been busy filing lawsuit after lawsuit against the artist along with Kris, and Luhan in China and Korea. The label emerged victorious in a separate lawsuit earlier this year, which demanded for the return of advance payment as well as interest from the singer.
