Record Compensation in Domestic Gaming Copyright Dispute
Court Orders Webzen to Halt "R2M" Service
Webzen Responds: "Will Appeal and Seek Suspension of Enforcement"
NCSoft won the second trial in a copyright lawsuit claiming that Webzen's mobile game 'R2M' plagiarized its 'Lineage M'. Webzen is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court, continuing the four-year-long legal battle.
On the 27th, the Seoul High Court Civil Division 5-1 (Presiding Judges Song Hye-jung, Kim Dae-hyun, Kang Seong-hoon) ruled partially in favor of the plaintiff in the copyright infringement injunction lawsuit filed by NCSoft against Webzen.
The court stated, "The defendant (Webzen) shall not allow general users to use R2M, nor promote, advertise, reproduce, distribute, transmit, or adapt it," and ordered "Webzen to pay NCSoft 16,918,209,288 KRW." This is the largest compensation amount ruled by a court in the history of copyright disputes in the domestic gaming industry.
The court did not accept the claim that Webzen's 'R2M' infringed NCSoft's copyright, as in the first trial. However, it judged the act as unfair competition infringing on "results created through substantial investment or effort by others," which is prohibited under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.
The court explained, "Although the defendant (Webzen) modified some game content after the game's release, considering the evidence up to that point, unfair competition acts are still ongoing," and "the plaintiff's (NCSoft) injunction claim was accepted, and the claimed amount was judged to be equivalent to 10% of the total sales amount as seen by the court." Additionally, "40% of the total litigation costs shall be borne by the plaintiff, and the remainder by the defendant."
'R2M' is a mobile massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released by Webzen in August 2020.
NCSoft filed a copyright lawsuit against Webzen in 2021, alleging that this game copied the content and system of 'Lineage M,' which was released in June 2017. The 'R2' series, including the PC version that 'R2M' is based on, generated 21 billion KRW in sales last year, accounting for 9.8% of Webzen's total revenue.
The Seoul Central District Court first trial ruled on August 2023 that "Webzen must pay NCSoft 1 billion KRW and stop providing game services under the name 'R2M'," ruling in favor of the plaintiff.
NCSoft increased the claimed compensation to 60 billion KRW during the appeal. Although 'R2M' service was allowed to continue after Webzen's injunction request to suspend enforcement was accepted following the first trial ruling, this latest decision increases the likelihood of the service being halted again.
An NCSoft official said immediately after the ruling, "It is significant that intellectual property (IP) and game content, which are core assets of a company, have been recognized as legally protected," adding, "We respect the court's decision and will continue to do our best to protect IP."
On the other hand, a Webzen representative stated, "We plan to promptly appeal and apply for a suspension of enforcement regarding the service suspension ruling."
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