A "plan to strengthen the overseas expansion and protection of copyright" proposed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Yang-woo Park, MCST) of the Republic of Korea was deliberated and passed at the plenary session of the 27th Presidential Council on Intellectual Property (September 4, 2020).

 

Due to COVID-19, offline economic activity is shrinking around the world while contactless consumption is emerging as a new normal. Online content, which plays a key role in the contactless economy, is highly popular*, and Hallyu (Korean Wave) content makes inroads into the global consumption market through video services (OTT).

* Content consumption increased by more than 60% due to a contactless lifestyle caused by COVID-19 (Nielsen, March 2020)

 

With the success of “BTS” and “Parasite,” as people around the world enjoy Hallyu content, copyright infringements such as illegal reproduction and unauthorized distribution are increasing abroad. Overseas copyrights infringements spread rapidly online, causing serious damage to companies and hindering creators' motivation, thereby posing a grave threat to the continuous promotion of Hallyu or economic growth.

 

Strengthening the overseas expansion and protection of copyright to boost new Hallyu in the contactless era

 

In response, the MCST has prepared a plan to support the continued overseas expansion of Korean content companies and to ensure their copyrights are rightfully protected in foreign countries, taking into account the increasing* importance of content and copyright amid the spread of Hallyu in the contactless era since the COVID-19 outbreak.

* Audio and video-related services recorded a trade surplus of USD 18.4 million (Bank of Korea, June 2020). This sector has posted surpluses for 59 consecutive months since October 2014.

 

With the aim of "spreading new Hallyu and realizing a cultural economy driven by content and copyright," this plan outlines four strategic tasks—▲ active support for exports, ▲ promotion of proper use, ▲ immediate response to infringement, and ▲ provision of easy remedies for infringement—along with 10 detailed tasks.

 

 

□ Strategy 1: Hallyu copyrights spreading to the wider world

 

We will strategically support the export of Hallyu copyright works. We provide support for companies according to each stage of overseas expansion, including competency diagnosis, advance consulting, Korea (K)-content expo, training of content translators, and support for the production of broadcast media content for export, and increase liquidity by continuously raising funds for exports. Furthermore, we will swiftly respond to complaints from companies filed with export support agencies through the Korea Creative Content Agency as well as establish and operate a “content export support system,” which provides comprehensive information related to content, including market information and overseas buyers.

 

By dividing the countries where Hallyu content is consumed into key markets, gradually growing markets, and promising emerging markets, we will ▲ ease regulations on entry into key markets such as China and Southeast Asia, and ▲ strengthen cultural cooperation in gradually growing markets like North America and Europe, ▲ and provide legal support for companies going overseas by expanding and signing trade treaties to allow them to enter cultural content markets in promising emerging markets such as South America and Eurasia.

 

We also support marketing events that help content creators expand overseas promotion in collaboration with relevant ministries and private sectors, and create synergy through collaboration* between content consumers and Hallyu stars by supporting "Hallyu-related product development projects."

 

* Creating synergy through collaboration from the planning stage beyond simply hiring stars for

"advertisement and promotion."

 

 

□   Strategy 2: Creating a distribution culture where legal use becomes commonplace

 

We plan to enhance information on laws and systems by country on the Overseas Copyright Information Plus site operated by the Korea Copyright Commission, share market trends and success stories through industry seminars, and provide legal consulting and help with contract writing based on the analysis of laws and systems of respective countries. We also help with issuance of rights certificates in foreign countries (China, from 2013), copyright registration (China, Thailand), and resolve difficulties facing companies entering overseas markets by broadening business networks* between Korean copyright holders and local distributors.

*    The biggest difficulty in exporting content is lack of connection with local partners (48.5%) (Korea Creative Content Agency in 2018, multiple choices

 

We will hold copyright forums with major countries where Hallyu is popular, maintain dialogue channels with advanced countries, and collaborate with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to raise international awareness of copyright protection, and promote voluntary protection of copyright by transferring the Korean-style copyright protection system* to countries with low awareness about copyright protection.

*      (Items to be transferred) ▲ Illegal Content Obstruction Program (I-COP), ▲ establishment of a comprehensive situation room to respond to copyright infringement, ▲ administrative measures such as corrective recommendations and blocking access under the Copyright Act, ▲ digital forensics investigation techniques and crackdown experience, ▲ public-private partnership cases, etc.

 

□   Strategy 3: Joint efforts to respond to overseas copyright infringement

 

While assigning the "Overseas Copyright Cooperation Group" as the main agency in charge of protecting copyrights in Korea and overseas, we will proactively overhaul the domestic organization by forming and operating an investigation team (7 members) specializing in online scientific investigation in response to increasingly internationalized and intelligent infringement. As part of local response to overseas infringement, we will strengthen cooperation among foreign agencies by departments such as intellectual property liaison offices (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the Korean Cultural Center (MCST), and KOTRA IP-Desk (JPO) in the short term. In the long term, we will gradually increase overseas intellectual property offices, considering the presence of Hallyu in the region and industry demand.

*    (At present) Four countries: China, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam → (In the future) 10 countries including the United States and European nations

 

Through the Overseas Intellectual Property Protection Council participated by six government ministries, eight public institutions, and 15 private rights holders' organizations, we will unify communication channels for the protection of overseas intellectual properties and strengthen our response to overseas copyright infringement by establishing a cooperative system with foreign governments*, special investigation with the National Police Agency of Korea, and red notices by the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).

*    Collaboration with the National Copyright Administration of the People’s Republic of China, Royal Thai Police, Vietnamese Authority of Broadcasting & Electronic Information, etc.

 

In addition, we support the Copyright Overseas Promotion Association (COA), composed of rights holders of broadcasts, webtoons (webcomics), and music, so that copyright owners can directly respond to infringement, as well as help rights holders actively respond and seek remedies for copyright infringement by conducting automatic monitoring of illegal use of copyrights on overseas websites, operating a real-time warning/deletion system, blocking illegal website ads, and establishing strategic collaborative relationships with private organizations abroad*.

 

* US Motion Picture Association (MPA), Japanese Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA), China Film Copyright Association, etc.

 

□   Strategy 4: Fair remedy for rights to increase creative motivation

 

In order to reduce litigation costs in foreign countries, which cause difficulties for companies, we will provide "overseas copyright protection vouchers" for small and medium enterprises from 2021 as part of local legal support by increasing access to information on judicial systems, the latest precedents, and local law firms in each country. In the case of countries that have signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), we will review the implementation of the agreement while reviewing any violations of international treaties (TRIPS**, etc.) for non-FTA countries to seek solutions based on trade laws.

*     (Overseas copyrights protection vouchers) Legal review of overseas distribution contracts, monitoring of illegal distribution, appraisal and investigation of infringement, response to lawsuits / From 2021 (KRW 1.8 billion)

** Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights: In the event of a violation of

obligations such as fair treatment of Koreans related to copyrights, it is possible to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization for violation of the obligation to protect Hallyu content copyrights.

 

We will also encourage companies to use an alternative dispute resolution system that takes less time and cost than a lawsuit when disputes arise by maintaining a cooperative system with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), such as through the provision of joint training programs for mediators, consultation on international copyright disputes, and support for covering the fees to use the mediation system* through the WIPO-MCST Mediation Promotion Scheme. In addition, we will continue to make efforts to establish the Korean branch of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center to promote the international copyright dispute mediation system in Asia.

*    Up to USD 5,000 per jurisdiction (administration fee, mediator’s fees, lawyer’s fees)

 

The size of the global content market (about $2.4 trillion) is more than 20 times that of the memory semiconductor market, which is Korea's flagship export item. In the post-COVID era, Korean cultural content such as music, games, and webtoons (webcomics) based on cultural influence (soft power) is expected to rise as our export competitiveness and a new growth engine.

 

Also, in a written congratulatory speech in commemoration of Intellectual Property Day, the President of the Republic of Korea presented four intellectual property agenda items, including "efficient creation of intellectual property using data and artificial intelligence" and "protection of creators' rights in the new Hallyu and online era." The MCST plans to actively work to fulfill these agenda items through this plan.

 

An MCST policy official said, “In order for Hallyu content to achieve global success like Parasite and BTS, we should first protect the creators of such works. We will actively help Korean content creators and companies go global and receive proper protection.”