[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Hansol Soobook, the publisher disputing copyright issues of the award-winning fairy tale "Cloud Bread" by author Baek Hee-na, who received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, released a statement on the 6th.
Hansol Soobook congratulated Baek Hee-na on her award but explained that absurd false information regarding the recent copyright infringement controversy over "Cloud Bread" has been spreading, causing significant damage to the company, prompting them to issue an official statement.
Hansol Soobook first claimed that the assertion that "Cloud Bread" generated sales in the 400 billion KRW range is an absurd falsehood.
Hansol Soobook explained that the origin of the claim that "Cloud Bread" generated 400 billion KRW in revenue stems from a statement made by former President Park Geun-hye during a meeting of the Cultural Prosperity Committee held in April 2014. At that time, former President Park mentioned that the illegal reproduction market was worth 440 billion KRW while urging respect for copyrights, and then cited "Cloud Bread," which was misinterpreted and reported as "Cloud Bread" generating 440 billion KRW in revenue, spreading incorrect information. They further stated that the actual sales of "Cloud Bread," first published in 2004, amounted to about 2 billion KRW, with roughly 400,000 copies sold over 15 years.
Author Baek Hee-na had previously revealed that she received 18.5 million KRW in earnings related to "Cloud Bread," which led to negative public opinion regarding the publisher's improper contract practices. Hansol Soobook expressed their grievance, stating that the scale of profits they earned from "Cloud Bread" was absurdly exaggerated.
Regarding the profits from "Cloud Bread," Baek stated in a YTN radio interview on the morning of the 6th that when she signed the contract with the publisher in 2003, she was a newcomer, so instead of a royalty contract where she would receive a percentage of profits per book sold, she signed a lump-sum contract, receiving a fixed amount at once, and that the lump-sum contract itself was not problematic.
Baek Hee-na said the issue lies with the copyright transfer contract. She stated that the copyright for "Cloud Bread" is currently not hers. Because of this, she cannot object even if secondary works based on "Cloud Bread," such as children's musicals or TV animations, are produced in ways that differ from her intentions.
Hansol Soobook stated that regarding the copyright issue, they reached a verbal agreement in February 2015 at a magnanimous level to transfer the copyright of the text and illustrations of the "Cloud Bread" book to Baek Hee-na. However, the agreement fell through due to unreasonable demands from Baek afterward, and Baek subsequently filed criminal and then civil lawsuits. They also explained that during the lawsuit process, they submitted a mediation proposal to pay royalties and expressed willingness to comply with court mediation, but the author’s side did not accept it.
Hansol Soobook is a subsidiary established in 2013 by separating the publishing business from Hansol Education. "Cloud Bread" was one of the picture books given along with study materials in "Books Books," a subscription service by Hansol Education that delivers study materials to homes monthly.
Baek Hee-na claimed that when she first signed a contract with Hansol Education in 2003, Hansol Education informed her that "Cloud Bread" would not be published as a standalone book. However, contrary to what Hansol Education had told her, a standalone book was published in 2004, which led to copyright disputes.
In response, Hansol Soobook claimed that they signed a revised contract with Baek Hee-na even after the standalone book was published in 2004. Hansol Soobook stated that at the time of the standalone book’s publication, Baek Hee-na also recreated the cover image, and after the standalone "Cloud Bread" became a hit, when Hansol Education proposed to provide incentives to Baek, she agreed without objection and signed the revised contract. Therefore, Baek signed two contracts with Hansol Education: the initial contract and the standalone book incentive contract. Furthermore, Hansol Soobook asserted that Baek was fully aware of the copyright transfer and secondary work utilization and personally signed the contract documents.
Hansol Soobook also explained that "Cloud Bread" was produced as a book included in the subscription-based picture book club "Books Books" for toddlers, and due to the subscription system, applying a royalty contract based on sales volume was difficult. They added that they discovered Baek Hee-na, who was an unknown author at the time in 2003, and provided more active support and investment compared to general standalone fairy tale books. Even after the standalone book’s publication in 2004, they invested significant manpower and costs into large-scale promotions and marketing, which ultimately made "Cloud Bread" a bestseller.
Hansol Soobook stated that they signed two legitimate contracts with Baek Hee-na and based on these, they made agreements for the use of secondary works, so the contracts cannot be fundamentally invalidated. However, their position to pay royalties remains unchanged, and they plan to use the profits from "Cloud Bread" for public interest purposes once the ongoing lawsuit concludes.
Baek Hee-na and Hansol Soobook’s lawsuit resulted in Baek losing in both the first and second trials, and the case is currently awaiting the Supreme Court’s final ruling.
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