The Camp to take down BTS members' names on its app

The Camp — a digital platform for sending letters to military personnel — said Tuesday that it will shut down the online forums that misappropriated the boy band BTS members' names and pictures.

BTS's V and RM pose for a photo after finishing their basic training. The photo was shared on RM's Instagram on Tuesday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The Camp — a digital platform for sending letters to military personnel — said Tuesday that it will shut down the online forums that misappropriated the boy band BTS members' names and pictures.

The platform operator said, "Lack of proper management resulted in an infringement of [intellectual] rights of the artists' agency," in a statement.

"All online forums and communities opened [on The Camp] under the names of BTS members will be shut down by Feb. 9," the operator said.

The platform company added that any users using the names of HYBE's artists without permission could be held legally accountable. Also, the operator will keep monitoring any creation of new communities using the boy band members' names.

The company's service allows families and acquaintances of military personnel to create online forums for those completing their mandatory service.

The operator has also been running separate communities for BTS's members — Jin, J-Hope and RM on their application. It also labeled the word "official" next to their names, which may have confused the boy band's fans and users. The company was also accused of selling dolls with the members' names on them.

BTS's agency — HYBE — mailed a statement to The Camp's operator last month, proving that the photos and names on the platform violated HYBE's artists' personality rights.

The Camp deleted the word "official" next to the members' names on the app and added a statement, "The communities are not official channels managed by HYBE [formerly BigHit Music]."

However, the measure was insufficient to settle the personality rights infringement disputes. The company will shut down online communities involving any names and photos of BTS members.

The agency deems that those actions are shaking the norms and values of the entertainment industry, where a tremendous amount of money and time are involved in training globally-recognized artists.

BY HAN JEE-HYE, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]