Agencies holding rights to names only happens in K-Pop?

Article: The shadows of K-Pop, not being able to call B2ST 'B2ST'

Source: Korea Ilbo via Nate

Article talks about how in Korea, agencies hold all the rights to group names, which is unheard of in the American or UK music markets.

1. [+1,092, -17] Honestly, Cube has no right whatsoever to even say a word right now..

2. [+921, -68] B2ST and TVXQ are in different boats though, no? JYJ filed a lawsuit and left so of course they shouldn't be allowed to use the TVXQ name ㅋㅋㅋ

3. [+828, -16] Just rename themselves to OGB2ST ㅋㅋ

4. [+51, -4] It's a different situation with TVXQ. With TVXQ, all of the members didn't leave, two wanted to stay so of course the ones that left should have to use different names. Jang Hyunseung obviously stayed behind but he was pretty much already out of the group before B2ST decided to leave anyway. Don't lump them in the same boat as TVXQ because it's not fair.

5. [+48, -2] I don't support B2ST anymore, I support Highlight

6. [+45, -0] What I'm happy about is that B2ST did all of the composing for their songs so B2ST won't be able to sing any of B2ST's older songs without permission ㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎ their agency's an idiot

7. [+29, -0] It's tough to compare our music market to UK or America. They operate under labels that are different from our music agencies who do everything from creating the overall 'concept' of an idol, piecing together the members, etc. In America, a label acts only as a support system for amateur talents and helping them schedule events and activities for commission.

8. [+26, -3] So is Highlight eligible for a rookie award if they start promoting now?

9. [+23, -0] With how much power fandoms hold in the industry, I have to wonder why Cube chose the route that would taint their image. Just look at Kwang Soo, you can see how important a CEO's image is. His negative image causes the rest of his artists to be seen in a negative light with him. With all of the expenses that go into producing an album, why would Cube choose to keep the name B2ST and spend all those expenses only to debut that album to a bunch of antis? Cube used to have the image of a successful mid-tier company working its way up but now they look as weird as Kwang Soo's agency. Whatever they end up doing with the B2ST name, the group is just going to end up as the male T-ara ㅋㅋㅋ

10. [+12, -0] I heard that it's illegal for Highlight to change their name to anything similar to B2ST like B2STIE, B2STAE, etc. All of this is probably the most heart breaking for the original members anyway.

11. [+11, -0] No need to even look towards foreign markets for examples. B2ST's case is already such a rarity in K-Pop... Cube is just in the wrong no matter what.

12. [+6, -1] It's hard to take either side. Imagine the company Orion.. they produced 'Chocopies' for 40 years, coming up with the idea, marketing, and production of it. If the person that was in charge of that quits and decides to start a new company and sell the exact same name, is that fair at all? That's what rights boils down to... Cube probably thinks the name B2ST is something they produced while the members think the name B2ST was more influenced by themselves... It's a tricky situation because both the members and the agency built themselves up together. None of this would've happened if they learned to share...

-