Seoul Copyright Forum 2020 explores

“Future of Copyright in a non-face-to-face era”

- October 15, both online and offline -

The Seoul Copyright Forum 2020, hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST, Minister PARK Yang-woo) of the Republic of Korea and organized by the Korea Copyright Commission (KCC, Chairman LIM Wonsun), will take place on Thursday, October 15, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. The forum will be held both online and offline (at JW Marriott Hotel Seoul), and most of the participants will attend the forum online in consideration of the limited on-site participation to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Seoul Copyright Forum, which celebrates its 13th anniversary this year, has been held annually since 2008, with the aim of promoting the development of national copyright policy and strengthening the capacity of relevant stakeholders through discussions on copyright-related issues at national and international levels. This year, approximately 400 participants are expected to join the forum, including officials from copyright-related organizations, copyright experts, business representatives, and the general public that registered for the forum in advance.

Discussing major issues and ways forward for copyright industry (platforms, performances, education) in a non-face-to-face society

The forum will begin with a keynote address by Daren Tang, the new Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Furthermore, experts from Korea and abroad will explore and discuss various issues relating to copyright under the theme of “Copyright and Non-face-to-face Society: Copyright Issues in the Post-COVID-19 Era.”

▲ Hee-joo Lee, Director of Policy Planning at Content Wavve, Nils Rauer, Partner Lawyer of Law Firm Pinsent Masons (Germany), and Sang-hyuk Im, Partner Lawyer of Shin & Kim LLC will speak on “Trends of Online Platform and Copyright Issues in a Non-face-to-face Society.” ▲ Then the topic “Trends of Non-face-to-face Online Performances and Copyright Issues in a Non-face-to-face Society” will be discussed by Byoung-seong Park, Director of The Musical, Sung-kee Hong, Professor of Law at the Inha University, and Kyle K. Courtney, Copyright Advisor at Harvard University. ▲ Additionally, Gyoo-ho Lee, Professor of Law at the Chung-ang University, Rosan Bosch, Founder and Creative Director of Rosan Bosch Studio (Sweden), and Kevin T. Richards, Legislative Attorney of Congressional Research Service will present “Trends in Online Education in a Non-face-to-face Society.”

Subsequently, the discussion and the Q&A session entitled “Future of Copyright in a Non-face-to-face Society” will be led by Dae-hee Lee, Professor of Law at the Korea University.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe social and cultural impacts worldwide. In the education sector, copyright issues concerning classroom teaching are rapidly emerging as all schools temporarily introduce online learning. For the culture & arts and content sector, problems relating to copyright contracts for online exhibitions and performances or problems caused by the concentration on certain distribution platforms (YouTube, Facebook, etc.) may arise. Against this backdrop, this forum is expected to provide possible ways forward for the copyright sector by bringing together experts from various sectors and facilitating discussions on copyright-related issues.

“As the COVID-19 has drastically changed our social and cultural activities and presented new challenges to copyright law, it is meaningful to have a chance to listen to the opinions of experts from Korea and abroad,” said an official from the MCST. “We plan to pursue copyright policies that protect the rights of authors and promote fair use of works in accordance with the changing environment in the non-face-to-face era.”