The final decision has been made on Tao’s lawsuit against SM Entertainment.

On March 20, SM Entertainment revealed, “On March 15, 2018, in the Supreme Court appeal for the lawsuit against the company for the invalidity of Tao’s exclusive contract, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Tao’s side.”

“Through this result, the Supreme Court declared that the exclusive contract between SM and Tao is valid. The position of Tao’s side that insisted the invalidity and problems with his exclusive contract was dismissed in the first trial on April 1, 2017, the appeal in October, and the final appeal with the Supreme Court, closing the case. It has become even more clear that the exclusive contract between SM and Tao is valid and must be followed.”

“SM welcomes the wise judgment of the court, and as we have done so until now, we will work our hardest so that the culture of following contracts and maintaining faith will take root for the development of Asia’s entertainment industry. In addition, we will continuously take action so that the company and affiliates with good intentions in China and other countries will not receive damage, and we will work for the improvement of wholesome cultural industries in both Korea and China,” the statement concludes.

In February, Tao won a lawsuit in China against SM Entertainment, but it was clarified that the verdict was related to Tao’s album release infringing rights and not related to the validity of his exclusive contract.

Source (1)