K-Content Illegal Distribution in North America 'The Second Nunutv'... US Court Orders Forced Shutdown

K-Content Illegal Streaming Site 'CocoaTV'
Damages Amount to Hundreds of Billions of Won

'CocoaTV,' which was illegally distributing K-content in the Americas, including the United States and Canada, and was called the 'second NunuTV,' has finally been shut down by a U.S. court ruling.

On the 16th, CocoWa, an over-the-top (OTT) online video service providing K-content in North and South America, announced, "CocoaTV, which was illegally distributing content to overseas Korean residents, was forcibly shut down on the 9th by a decision of the Arizona state court." The Arizona court ordered the operator of CocoaTV (Tumi MAX) to shut down the operating site and prohibited all commercial use of similar trademarks. It also ordered the cessation of all activities infringing on the plaintiff CocoWa's copyrights.

[Image provided by Korea Copyright Protection Agency]

CocoaTV caused controversy by illegally streaming terrestrial and comprehensive programming channel broadcasters' content, CocoWa-distributed Wave original content, as well as Netflix and Disney content. In particular, it cleverly evaded Korean legal jurisdiction while providing services to the Korean community in the Americas.

The damage caused by CocoaTV's illegal distribution of Korean content is reported to amount to hundreds of billions of won. Industry estimates indicate that CocoaTV recorded over approximately 20 million monthly visits, surpassing the traffic of OnDemandKorea (ODK), a legitimate business and partner of CocoWa serving the Korean diaspora, causing tremendous losses.

This victory by CocoWa holds great significance for the global distribution of K-content. Not only the content serviced by CocoWa but also the copyrights of almost all distributors of K-content such as CJ ENM, comprehensive programming channels, Netflix, and Disney are protected together. It also has a punitive effect to prevent the emergence of similar services in the future.

Meanwhile, the 'Overseas Hallyu Content Infringement Status Survey' published by the Korea Copyright Protection Agency in May last year found that illegal distribution of overseas Hallyu content reached 477 million cases in 2022. This accounts for 15% of all illegal distribution. Especially, newly released content within one year accounted for 24%, indicating that it is causing enormous damage to the related industry's revenue.