Official Recognition of Webtoon Illegal Distribution Response Team P.CoK Activities
Kakao Entertainment announced on the 16th that it has been selected as the first domestic entertainment company to become an official partner of Google's TCRP (Trusted Copyright Removal Program). This recognizes the achievements of P.CoK, the global illegal distribution response team that eradicates illegal distribution of webtoons and web novels.
TCRP is an intellectual property (IP) protection program operated by Google. Only companies that continuously supply high-quality illegal distribution data to Google are granted TCRP partner status after a review process. Currently, approximately 200 specialized copyright infringement response companies and organizations worldwide are known to be active as partners. According to a report on illegal distribution response published by Google in 2018, about 178 companies were granted partner status as of 2017.
Being selected as a TCRP partner signifies external recognition of P.CoK's copyright infringement response activities. Kakao Entertainment, centered on P.CoK?the first in the webtoon and web novel industry to establish such a team?has published a biannual white paper on illegal distribution response, sharing its know-how on copyright infringement response with the industry. By building a systematic illegal distribution response system, it has achieved results such as blocking approximately 240 million cases of global illegal content from 2019 to 2023.
The TCRP selection is expected to accelerate Kakao Entertainment’s illegal distribution response activities. Compared to general reports, which have limits on the number of daily illegal distribution reports and longer processing times, TCRP partners can quickly process large volumes of illegal content reports. They can also directly block content as IP holders. Copyright infringement reports are broadly divided into direct reports handled by copyright holders and platforms, and indirect reports processed through specialized infringement response companies such as monitoring firms. Most domestic companies that have previously obtained TCRP partner status are specialized infringement response companies, and many companies addressing illegal distribution issues respond through these specialized companies using the indirect reporting method.
Lee Ho-jun, Head of Legal Affairs at Kakao Entertainment, said, "As an IP company protecting creative works, we will further dedicate ourselves to eradicating the widespread illegal distribution globally, taking this TCRP partner selection as an opportunity."
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