"Illegal Webtoon Reports Last Year Increased by 70% Compared to the Previous Year"

Seungsoo Kim, Member of the People Power Party

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Last year, reports of illegal activities related to comics and webtoons surged by 70% compared to the previous year.

On the 28th, Kim Seung-su, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee from the People Power Party, received data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism titled 'Annual Reports on Comics and Webtoons, Status of Illegal Webtoon Blocking Measures.' According to the data, the number of illegal webtoon reports over the past five years totaled 9,809 cases. By year, there were 474 cases in 2017, 1,108 in 2018, 2,256 in 2019, and 3,844 in 2020, showing an annual increase.

As reports of illegal webtoons increased, reports requesting the blocking of illegal sites also surged. The number of requests made to the Korea Copyright Protection Agency for site access blocking rose from 133 cases in 2019 to 423 cases in 2020. The number of blocking decisions made by the Korea Communications Standards Commission also increased from 109 to 399 cases.

According to Representative Kim, illegal webtoon sites often have servers located overseas, making punishment difficult. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated, "In the case of illegal webtoon sites, it is difficult to take measures under domestic law," adding, "Even if site access is blocked, alternative sites are created by simply changing the URL address, which presents limitations."

Representative Kim urged, "The internationalization and sophistication of copyright infringement crimes relocating overseas to evade domestic crackdowns have created blind spots in copyright protection, and the development of illegal distribution technologies has led to diversification of copyright infringement. The government must devise various solutions through technical supplementary measures."