Culture Committee Approves Amendment at Bill Review Subcommittee on 24th
Law to Take Effect Six Months After Plenary Session Approval
Industry Previously Restricted by System
Consumers' Promises Once a Source of Anxiety
[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] In the future, domestic online video service (OTT) content will be able to autonomously classify ratings without going through the Video Rating Board. The OTT industry, which has faced business restrictions due to past regulations, can now breathe a sigh of relief as regulatory barriers are lowered.
On the 24th, the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee held a subcommittee meeting on cultural and artistic bills and approved an amendment to the "Act on the Promotion of Movies and Video Works," which centers on the introduction of an OTT self-rating system. The committee adopted a compromise bill partially incorporating amendments to the Act on the Promotion of Movies and Video Works originally proposed by Park Jung and Lee Sang-heon of the Democratic Party and Hwang Bo-seung-hee of the People Power Party.
The amendment allows OTT operators designated as self-rating classification businesses by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism to directly classify the ratings of online video works. It also includes a provision in the supplementary opinion to implement a designation system for three years and then switch to a notification system if no issues arise, lowering the entry barriers for new operators. If the amendment passes the plenary session, it will be enforced six months after promulgation.
Domestic OTT companies such as TVING and Wavve have continuously emphasized the necessity of a self-rating system. The main criticism is that under the current system requiring prior review, timely rating classification from the Video Rating Board cannot be obtained.
At the "Online Video Self-Rating Policy Direction Establishment Seminar" held at the National Assembly on the 19th, Labor Hwan, Policy Cooperation Team Leader at Content Wave, said, "Operators find it difficult to predict the volume of reviews after applying for them," adding, "There have been cases where original content was provided for free until the review was completed due to delays in the review process."
Go Chang-nam, Director at TVING, also raised his voice, saying, "The most important point in the monthly subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) business is the revisit rate, and if the 'upcoming release' menu promise cannot be kept due to the prior review system, users inevitably leave," emphasizing, "The self-rating system is desperately needed."
As foreign companies such as Netflix, Disney Plus (+), and Apple TV+ increase their presence in the domestic market, calls to change the Video Rating Board's prior review system have grown. According to the Video Rating Board's "2022 Video Rating Annual Report," the number of video rating classifications was 8,189 in 2017 and increased 1.97 times to 16,167 in 2021. The Video Rating Board's maximum prior rating review period is 14 days, which sometimes results in reverse discrimination against domestic OTTs with a high proportion of broadcast content. There are also cases where content is first uploaded on platforms free from regulation, such as YouTube, Instagram, and general portals, which must be watched.
Meanwhile, on the 25th, Park Bo-gyun, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, attended the full meeting of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee and stated, "When preparing subordinate legislation for the OTT self-rating system, we will thoroughly review industry meetings and difficulties from the beginning to ensure that no new regulations arise, and we will reflect the intent of the bill and the opinions of the lawmakers as much as possible." This is interpreted as an intention to alleviate concerns that strict standards might act as prior regulations.
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