Naver Webtoon Announces Copyright Protection Activities Targeting APEC Member Countries

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Naver Webtoon informed global copyright policy officials about the importance of protecting copyrights for webtoons and web novels.

On the 21st (local time), Naver Webtoon attended the ‘APEC Intellectual Property Experts Group (IPEG) Forum’ held in Palm Springs, California, USA, as a representative of webtoon and web novel content companies. At this event, Naver Webtoon presented its copyright protection activities and the importance of protecting copyrights for webtoons and web novels.

The forum, held under the theme of ‘Copyright and Creation in the Digital Economy,’ was organized in conjunction with the 56th meeting of the Intellectual Property Experts Group (IPEG), which oversees intellectual property policy practices within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). It was jointly hosted by the U.S. USTR (Office of the United States Trade Representative), USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office), and USCO (United States Copyright Office).

The forum invited individuals and corporate representatives from various industries related to copyright, including publishing, photography, film, music, design, and content platforms, to actively reference when IPEG member countries establish copyright-related laws and regulations. Copyright and IP policy officials from APEC member countries such as South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Japan’s Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA) also attended, holding discussions on the importance of copyright protection in the digital economy era.

Naver Webtoon (fourth from the left) is presenting Naver Webtoon's copyright protection activities and the importance of copyright protection for webtoons and web novels at the APEC Intellectual Property Experts Group discussion held in the United States. (Photo by Naver Webtoon)

Naver Webtoon, as a leading global company operating in the webtoon and web novel content business where the importance of copyright protection has recently increased, was invited to the forum and introduced its activities to protect copyrights of creative works, focusing on its illegal distribution blocking technology called ‘Toon Radar.’

Naver Webtoon independently researched and developed the ‘Toon Radar’ system, a technology that inserts invisible user identification information into webtoon images to identify and block the original illegal leaker. Since July 2017, it has been used to track illegal webtoon copies domestically and internationally. According to Naver Webtoon’s own data, Toon Radar delays illegal distribution of major works, and when converted into economic value, the rights protected amount to at least 200 billion KRW annually. Including cases where illegal distribution was blocked at the source, the scale is expected to increase to about 300 billion KRW.

In addition, Naver Webtoon has formed partnerships with several domestic and international specialized companies focused on blocking search terms and monitoring illegal content distribution cases. It also has an in-house specialized social media monitoring organization and a copyright infringement response task force to respond immediately to copyright infringements.

Choi Hye-yoon, an official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism who attended the forum as a representative of the South Korean government, said, “Naver Webtoon is a global company leading the webtoon and web novel industry worldwide, centered on Korea, Japan, and the United States, and was invited as a representative of the Korean content industry to this forum. It was very helpful in raising awareness among Asia-Pacific policy officials about the seriousness of K-webtoon and K-web novel copyright infringements and requesting cooperation for effective infringement response.”