Eventually to Litigation... 'OTT Bong-i Kim Seondal' Heads to Court

Service Suspension Ignored 'Certified Mail'
Injunction Filed at Seoul Central District Court

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Three online video service (OTT) companies?Wavve, TVING, and Watcha?have filed an injunction against Paysense for unauthorized sales of content they do not own. Last month, they sent a certified letter requesting service suspension, but Paysense remained 'unresponsive,' leading to a legal dispute.

According to industry sources on the 7th, the three OTT companies appointed the law firm Bae, Kim & Lee as their legal representative and filed an injunction to suspend Paysense's service at the Seoul Central District Court on the 1st. An industry insider said, "The injunction was filed primarily to prevent further damage caused by ongoing service operations. Separately, a main lawsuit will also proceed. Compensation for damages is expected to be discussed during the lawsuit."

Last month, the three companies sent a certified letter requesting the suspension of services to Paysense, whose main business model is the sale of 'daily OTT passes,' but Paysense refused to respond and remained silent.

‘Paysense,’ operated by Paysense Co., Ltd., sells daily passes for six OTT services including Netflix, TVING, Wavve, and Watcha at 400 to 600 KRW per person. Unlike existing sites that only support account sharing, the company directly owns the IDs and shares them with members. This is essentially no different from the past illegal resale of content through peer-to-peer (P2P) methods.

Paysense claims it is a legal service, stating "We have not violated the law," but this directly contradicts the terms of use of OTT companies. The OTT industry clearly states in their terms that "members may not engage in any commercial activities using paid services without the company's explicit approval." Netflix, for example, prohibits sharing accounts with third parties outside the family.

Unauthorized resale of OTT content is pointed out as an act that could damage the industry ecosystem in the long term. Most of the revenue generated is reinvested in content. Last year, the combined revenue of Wavve, TVING, and Watcha reached about 430 billion KRW, but operating losses exceeded 150 billion KRW due to rising costs. This is because content licensing fees are soaring amid competition with global OTT platforms. An industry insider noted, "Companies provide movies or dramas at a much cheaper rate under a subscription model than through single sales. This structure allows stable recovery of content investment costs through long-term secured customers."