OTT Industry Leader - Minister Hwang Hee of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to Hold Meeting on the 1st of Next Month

Domestic OTT Industry, Minister Hwang Hee of Culture, Sports and Tourism to Hold Communication Meeting
Scheduled for April 1... Venue Undecided
Postponed Once on the 18th
Discussion Expected on Music Copyright Usage Fee Collection Regulations

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] The first meeting between the domestic online video service (OTT) industry and Hwang Hee, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which had been postponed once, is scheduled to take place on the 1st of next month. The main topic of discussion is expected to be the issue of the increase in music copyright royalty rates, which escalated into a group administrative lawsuit.

A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official said in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 25th, "The meeting is scheduled for April 1st, but the venue is still being arranged." The meeting originally set for the 18th was postponed once due to the National Assembly schedule.

Minister Hwang Hee is expected to communicate with the OTT industry regarding controversies such as the 'Amendment to the Music Copyright Usage Fee Collection Regulations.' Representatives and executives from OTT companies including Content Wave, TVING, and Watcha will attend the meeting.

The domestic OTT industry is in conflict with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism over the increase in music copyright royalty rates. The industry has filed an administrative lawsuit against the ministry, rejecting the amendment to the music copyright collection regulations approved by the ministry in December last year. Recently, telecommunications companies such as KT and LG Uplus have also joined the lawsuit, expanding its scale.

Earlier, on December 11th last year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism approved a revised amendment to the music copyright collection regulations submitted by the Korea Music Copyright Association with modifications. The amendment includes a newly established clause for 'video transmission services' applicable to OTTs, to be enforced from this year. The royalty rate starts at 1.5% and will increase to 1.9995% by 2026. This is significantly higher compared to other broadcasting operators such as comprehensive cable TV operators (SO) at 0.5% and IPTV at 1.2%.

The OTT industry points out that the ministry's music copyright usage fee collection regulations lack clear standards and that the procedural validity of the amendment's approval is insufficient. An industry official said, "Even when watching the same terrestrial drama, the rates vary several times depending on the platform, indicating unclear standards, and the industry's opinions were not properly collected during the approval process."

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