Naver Webtoon announced on the 22nd that it has filed a lawsuit seeking damages totaling 1 billion KRW against operators of illegal webtoon and web novel sites. The company stated its position to respond strongly with a zero-tolerance policy toward copyright infringement.
The defendants are operators who developed and managed illegal webtoon and web novel sharing sites such as 'Monkeyㅇㅇ', 'Swimteoㅇㅇ', and 'ㅇㅇBlue'.
According to the complaint submitted by Naver Webtoon to the Suwon District Court, Defendant 1 operated multiple illegal webtoon sites including 'Monkeyㅇㅇ' from December 2020 to July 2023, was apprehended by the Gyeongbuk Police Agency in September 2023, and the final criminal verdict was delivered in May 2024. Naver Webtoon is claiming 500 million KRW in damages from Defendant 1.
Defendants 2 and 3 are operators of illegal web novel sites and were apprehended in December 2023 by the Copyright Crime Investigation Unit of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Naver Webtoon stated in the complaint that "according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Defendant 2, the operator of 'Swimteoㅇㅇ', and Defendant 3, the operator of 'ㅇㅇBlue', are presumed to be the same person," and is jointly claiming 500 million KRW.
Naver Webtoon judged that it can identify the defendants and proceeded with the damages claim lawsuit. It plans to increase the claim amount as soon as the defendants’ identities and the facts of the illegal acts are confirmed through document delivery requests and document submission orders with related agencies.
Kim Gyu-nam, Vice President of Naver Webtoon, said, "We will respond strictly based on a thorough zero-tolerance policy against illegal content distribution and do our best to protect creators."
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