Native OTT "Eumjeohyeop Should Withdraw Criminal Complaint and Engage in Consultation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Domestic online video service (OTT) companies such as Wavve, TVING, and Watcha have strongly expressed regret over the Korea Music Copyright Association's (KOMCA) unilateral termination of the months-long consultative body on music copyright rates and its filing of criminal complaints. They also refuted false claims that OTT operators had not taken measures to pay past copyright fees.

The OTT Music Copyright Countermeasure Council (OTT Music Council), composed of domestic OTT operators, issued a joint statement on the morning of the 28th titled "OTT Music Council's Position on KOMCA's Criminal Complaint," stating, "We are truly regretful to hear media reports that KOMCA has filed criminal complaints against some OTT companies for copyright infringement," and urged KOMCA to "immediately withdraw the pointless criminal complaints and sincerely engage in consultations."

The OTT Music Council pointed out that "the sudden criminal complaint amid ongoing efforts by the government, OTT companies, and many music copyright and neighboring rights collective management organizations to reach a reasonable agreement through the OTT music copyright coexistence consultative body, launched in May, reverses the months of negotiation efforts made by many companies, organizations, and the government participating in the coexistence consultative body."

In particular, the OTT Music Council expressed disappointment over KOMCA spreading false information and conducting a public opinion campaign.

The OTT Music Council rebutted, "KOMCA distributed completely false information to the media, such as 'the coexistence consultative body has ended' or 'OTT companies did not take measures to pay past copyright fees,'" and added, "Contrary to KOMCA's unilateral dissemination of falsehoods, the coexistence consultative body has not ended but is currently collecting opinions on the recommended interpretation of the collection regulations."

Rather, OTT companies have continuously stated that, separate from the administrative lawsuit challenging the procedural and substantive defects of the collection regulations themselves, they plan to pay copyright fees according to current regulations if a reasonable interpretation is established through the coexistence consultative body's discussions.

The OTT Music Council criticized, "KOMCA has not separately demanded contracts or copyright fee payments from OTT companies since the start of the coexistence consultative body," and said, "In this situation, the sudden criminal complaints and public opinion campaign only worsen the dispute and hinder a swift and amicable agreement sought by OTT companies and creators."

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's 'Music Copyright Collection Regulation Amendment,' which the OTT Music Council is currently suing over, has come under scrutiny for excessively high rates, double collection, differing rates by platform despite being the same service (violating the principle of equality), and violating the Act on the Regulation of Terms and Conditions without proper opinion collection procedures. Besides OTT companies, KT and LG Uplus, which also provide OTT services, are pursuing administrative lawsuits. In the first hearing of the OTT operators, the court acknowledged the possibility of double collection for rights-cleared content under the amendment.

Particularly, unlike KOMCA's past push for excessive rates under the banner of protecting copyright holders, recent parliamentary audits revealed that tens of millions of won collected from overseas OTTs have not been distributed to creators for years, raising concerns about repercussions.

The OTT Music Council urged, "To guarantee the rightful rights of individual creators, reasonable negotiations based on mutual trust between rights holders and users must be the starting point," and called on KOMCA to "immediately withdraw the pointless criminal complaints against user companies and sincerely engage in consultations."