[Prime Intellectual Property] Copyright Registrations Decline for the First Time Ever... "Due to Reduced Investment and Economic Downturn"

63,000 Copyright Registrations... Down 10% from Last Year
Edited Works Such as AI-Generated and Product Images Up 48%

Last year, the number of copyright registrations in South Korea reached approximately 63,000, marking the first-ever decline. This is the first time such a decrease has occurred since the Korea Copyright Commission began releasing annual statistics in 2010. The number of registrations, which surpassed 70,000 in 2023, dropped by nearly 10%. The Commission attributed this decline to last year's economic downturn and reduced investment. While registrations for pure creative works such as music, art, photography, and video decreased, there was an increase in the registration of "edited works" created using artificial intelligence (AI) technology or used as product images in e-commerce.

According to the Copyright Commission on May 21, the number of domestic copyright registrations last year was 63,062, representing a decrease of about 10% compared to the previous year. This is the first time since 2010 that the annual number of copyright registrations has declined. By category, the year-on-year decrease rates were 53% for photography, 20% for art, 18% for video, and 4.4% for music. Notably, the number of edited works increased by 48%, from 5,679 to 8,389.

Although copyright is automatically granted upon creation, formal registration provides legal evidence in the event of a dispute, helps prevent unauthorized copying by others, and offers protection when used commercially. Kim Namcheol, head of the registration and deposit team at the Copyright Commission, told Asia Economy, "Last year's sluggish economic conditions and reduced investment appear to have contributed to the decline in copyright registrations." For example, in the film industry, total box office revenue last year was 1.1945 trillion won, a decrease of 66.9 billion won from the previous year, and the number of moviegoers fell by 2.01 million to 123.13 million.

However, the number of edited works registered increased by 48% compared to the previous year. Edited works refer to content in which creativity is demonstrated in the selection, arrangement, or composition of materials. The Copyright Commission recognizes the creativity of human involvement in selecting, arranging, or composing images generated by AI and registers these as edited works. A representative example is "AI Surobuin," registered by Nara Knowledge Information Co., Ltd. as the author. AI Surobuin was produced using multiple AI programs for the scenario, video, and audio. While the Copyright Commission did not recognize AI Surobuin as a "video work," it did acknowledge the human-edited portions as creative and registered them as an edited work. However, according to the Commission, the number of edited works registered using AI technology did not significantly affect the overall statistics. The main reason for the increase was the active registration of detailed product images used in e-commerce platforms such as Coupang as edited works.

The issue is that the decline in copyright registrations for pure creative works is not unrelated to the advancement of AI technology. Since copyrighted works are used in AI model training, there are concerns that a lack of adequate compensation or rewards for creators could result in a "tragedy of the commons." The tragedy of the commons refers to the phenomenon where public resources with unclear ownership are excessively exploited for individual gain, ultimately leading to depletion.

Hwang Junghwan, head of the compensation business division at the Korea Copyright Association for Culture and Arts, stated, "Unauthorized use of copyrighted works for AI model training not only diminishes creators' motivation but also shrinks the market and takes away jobs from designers and writers." Kim Hyeongjun, secretary-general of the Photographers Association, said, "If we consider AI training using unregistered works, the damage to artists will be even greater," adding, "Since it is impossible to completely block technological advancement, an appropriate compensation system is necessary." Choi Seungjae, professor at Sejong University, expressed concern, saying, "If copyrighted works are neutralized under the name of 'public data,' the effort and time of creators become zero. If a system is designed on the premise of someone's sacrifice, it will not be sustainable and will ultimately lead to the extinction of those who are sacrificed."