Submission of Copyright Infringement Complaint for 'Geomjeong Gomu Shin'
"No Consultation at All During Reissue"
The bereaved family of the late writer Lee Woo-young, who passed away during the copyright dispute over the comic 'Gomjeong Gomu-shin,' has filed a lawsuit against Hyeongseol Publishing. The reason is the unauthorized re-publication of the author's book.
The late Lee Woo-young, the author of the comic 'Gomjeong Gomu-shin,' his wife Lee Ji-hyun is heading to the civil service office at Mapo Police Station in Seoul on the morning of the 20th to submit a complaint against Hyeongseol Publishing for copyright infringement related to 'Gomjeong Gomu-shin.' Photo by Yonhap News
The Lee Woo-young Writer Incident Countermeasure Committee submitted a complaint related to the copyright infringement of 'Gomjeong Gomu-shin' to the Mapo Police Station in Seoul on the morning of the 20th. At a press conference held alongside the submission, the committee claimed that Hyeongseol Publishing had unauthorizedly re-published the comic book 'Gomjeong Gomu-shin-ui Silsu Teukgeup' (The Special Mistake of Gomjeong Gomu-shin), which Lee illustrated and his spouse Lee Ji-hyun wrote, in 2015, originally published in 2001.
Hyeongseol Publishing re-published 'Gomjeong Gomu-shin-ui Silsu Teukgeup,' originally published by Daekyo Publishing in 2001, in 2015 under the title 'Wow (WOW) Gomjeong Gomu-shin Geojitmal Gatayo?' (Wow, Gomjeong Gomu-shin, Is It a Lie?). The bereaved family states that there was no consultation whatsoever with the original publisher or the author regarding copyright during this process. Lee Ji-hyun, the spouse of the author, said, "Because the title and cover illustration were completely different, I initially could not imagine that the two books were the same. After confirming this fact, I sent a certified letter to the publisher, but received no response, so after much consideration, I decided to file a lawsuit."
The committee stated, "Unlike the defensive responses by the publisher to the author's copyright infringement complaints and lawsuits, this is the first proactive response by the bereaved family against Hyeongseol Publishing." Hyeongseol Publishing is the publisher that had been in a copyright dispute with the author for about two years before his death in March this year.
The comic "Black Rubber Shoes" set in the 1960s. Capture from Black Rubber Shoes.
The author had released the popular comic 'Gomjeong Gomu-shin,' but suffered mental distress due to copyright disputes with character companies and publishers, ultimately taking an extreme step in March last year. During his lifetime, he faced difficulties such as the character company representative registering himself as a co-author of nine 'Gomjeong Gomu-shin' characters, resulting in a small share of profits and lack of proper notification during secondary business processes. In his final statement submitted to the court before his death, he appealed, "Gomjeong Gomu-shin is my entire life and my soul. Please help me reclaim the rights of creators who are foolishly naive except for their creativity."
Earlier, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized the copyright contract for 'Gomjeong Gomu-shin' as an unfair contract and ruled that Hyeongseol Publishing's character company, Hyeongseol & Co., must not produce or sell 'Gomjeong Gomu-shin' character creations or advertisements. The Korea Copyright Commission also canceled the joint copyright registration of Hyeongseol Publishing and CEO Jang Jin-hyeok.
The first-instance court ruled the contract related to the 'Gomjeong Gomu-shin' copyright dispute invalid but ordered the author's side to pay the publisher approximately 74 million won in damages, as the contract was valid until a certain point. Both parties appealed this decision, and the second trial's second hearing is scheduled for the 21st.
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