Response to Copyright Infringement of Web Novels and Webtoons... Policy Briefing on the 30th

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] A policy briefing session for web novel and webtoon writers and publishers will be held on the 30th at the Korea Copyright Protection Agency. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will introduce support policies together with the Korea Publication Culture Industry Promotion Agency and the Korea Copyright Protection Agency.

This event aligns with the remarks of Minister Park Bo-gyun, who has emphasized the need to create an environment where the intellectual property (IP) of K-content is fairly consumed. Although the popularity of K-content has increased, illegal use domestically and internationally has also risen, and the purpose is to prevent damage.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to establish and operate a comprehensive response system to systematically address copyright infringement in the web novel and webtoon sectors. The monitoring targets for illegal reproductions, which were previously limited to webhard and torrents, will be expanded to include web novels and webtoons starting this year. The website usage procedures for reporting illegal reproductions have also been simplified.

The policy briefing will also include a session introducing support policies. Support projects include ▲ multi-use (OSMU) support projects for publishing content (Publication Promotion Agency) ▲ global story discovery and development and domestic and international distribution support projects (Korea Creative Content Agency) ▲ web novel workforce training projects (Publication Promotion Agency). Through these, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism aims to increase hit cases like ‘Jaebeoljip Maknae Adeul’ (The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate).

Additionally, a biennial survey on the web novel industry will be conducted to regularly diagnose the web novel creation and distribution ecosystem, and a standard contract for the web novel sector is scheduled to be prepared in the first half of this year.

A policy official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated, “Using web novels and webtoons through illegal sites is a factor that hinders the growth and continuous development of the K-content industry. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will strongly respond to copyright infringement for the sustainable growth of our content industry and will prepare well-structured support measures so that web novels can take a step forward as original content.”