Film Production Company Proxy Sues Illegal Downloaders... Group Prosecuted for Collecting 900 Million Won in Settlement Fees

A group that filed lawsuits and extorted settlement money from people who downloaded movies from illegal content-sharing sites on behalf of a film production company has been brought to trial.

The Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office announced on the 26th that it indicted seven members of the group on charges including violation of the Attorney-at-Law Act and Copyright Act for filing over 1,000 lawsuits against illegal downloaders and collecting about 900 million KRW in settlement money from June last year to February this year. Among them, one ringleader was detained.

According to the prosecution, the ringleaders, A and B, a married couple, are accused of establishing a 'copyright troll' company without attorney qualifications, signing copyright management contracts with four film production companies, and operating an unauthorized copyright trust management business. A copyright troll company refers to a company established to gain profits through strategic litigation rather than producing creative works.

During the review of records related to copyright infringement cases transferred from the police in October last year, the prosecution confirmed that B had acted as an employee representing two film production companies in filing lawsuits, prompting an investigation.

The prosecution found that the group employed three staff members to import IP addresses and data and divided specific procedural tasks necessary for lawsuits, committing the crimes in an organized manner.

A attempted to expand the business by inducing illegal downloads. A deliberately distributed movie content on the internet and obtained large settlement amounts through movies that failed at the box office. Additionally, to attract more illegal downloads, A commissioned the creation of a sharing site linked to torrents.

The prosecution also confirmed circumstances where the film production companies and the group fabricated false copyright transfer contracts to jointly file lawsuits as co-owners of copyright property rights.

A prosecution official stated, "We plan to strictly punish copyright troll offenders to correct the practice of lawsuits turned into settlement money extortion," adding, "We will do our best to establish sound copyright protection and proper distribution order of works."