Minister Hwang Hee: "As the Status of Domestic Music Rises, Copyright Protection Must Be Ensured"

Hwang Hee, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dong-hyun] Hwang Hee, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "As the global status of domestic music such as K-pop rises, copyright must be equally protected."

On the 9th, Minister Hwang held a meeting with the music industry at the Copyright Protection Division's Seoul office of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and made this announcement. This meeting was held following the music industry's appeal last month demanding coexistence and mutual growth between the domestic online video service (OTT) industry and the music industry, and their request for a government meeting.

In relation to this, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism established a new clause for "video transmission services" applicable to OTT in the "Amendment to the Music Copyright Usage Fee Collection Regulations" on December 11 last year, raising the rate from 1.5% to 1.9995% by 2026. The OTT industry has opposed this, escalating conflicts with the music industry.

Minister Hwang emphasized the need for coexistence between the OTT industry and the music industry. He said, "In the past, when the music market shifted from offline to online, there was an expansion of illegal markets and controversy over the level of copyright usage fees. However, now the culture of paying copyright fees has been established, and the music transmission market is leading the growth of our music industry." He added, "There may be crises until new services begin and copyright-related practices stabilize, but it is important to create a culture of coexistence."

The music industry stressed that when setting copyright usage fees, more important than the fee level is the provision of accurate data about users. They conveyed difficulties caused by insufficient user information on existing platforms, which hindered smooth collection and distribution of copyright fees. A music industry official attending the meeting said, "OTT operators should share data to ensure transparent collection and distribution, and a related consultative body should be established to discuss based on this data," emphasizing, "Support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is also necessary."

Minister Hwang said, "As services that use music develop, music usage will be activated, which will also benefit music creators," and added, "We will actively support the music industry to coexist with new types of services."

Attendees at the meeting included ▲ Kim Won-yong, President of the Korea Music Performers Union ▲ Kim Chang-hwan, President of the Korea Music Content Association ▲ Baek Soon-jin, Chairman of the Association of Music Copyright Holders Together ▲ Lee Kyu-young, President of the Korea Music Label Industry Association ▲ Lee Deok-yo, President of the Korea Record Industry Association ▲ Lim Baek-woon, President of the Korea Entertainment Producers Association ▲ Hong Jin-young, President of the Korea Music Copyright Association.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.