[Featured Stock] Mr. Blue Rises on AI Blocking Illegal Distribution of Naver Webtoon

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] Mr. Blue is showing strong performance. This is interpreted as Mr. Blue, which has a high market share in Naver Webtoon's martial arts genre, being highlighted following news that Naver Webtoon operates a system that blocks illegal webtoon distribution using artificial intelligence (AI).

As of 10:51 AM on the 1st, Mr. Blue is trading at 3,465 KRW, up 4.37% compared to the previous day.

According to industry sources, Naver Webtoon operates an AI-based pre-blocking system called 'ToonRadar.' Based on this system, illegal distribution sites are monitored automatically in real-time, and when illegal copied webtoons are detected, user identification information is extracted from the image to block the account of the initial leaker.

This user identification information is embedded in the webtoon image but is not visible to the naked eye, and the method of generation and embedding is periodically changed. Since 2019, the system has analyzed illegal distribution patterns using machine learning to identify users suspected of illegal copying activities.

Suspected accounts are pre-blocked from purchasing paid previews, making it difficult to secure webtoon content for illegal distribution.

According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, the illegal webtoon distribution market size was estimated at 842.7 billion KRW in 2021, which is about a 53.6% increase from the previous year (548.8 billion KRW).

Mr. Blue is the domestic company holding the largest number of comic copyrights, owning 1,902 titles and 57,275 volumes of intellectual property (IP). A particular strength is holding comprehensive copyrights for the four great kings of martial arts, known as ‘Hwangseong, Yaseolrok, Samadal, and Haseungnam.’