Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to Actively Respond to NFT Copyright Infringement Controversy in the Art World, Including Investigation 추진

Works by Lee Jung-seop, Kim Whanki, and Park Soo-keun, masters of modern and contemporary Korean art, produced as NFTs.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dong-hyun] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 5th that it will actively respond, including pursuing investigations, regarding the recent controversy over copyright infringement of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in the art world.

NFTs are a technology that uses blockchain to assign unique marks to each piece of content and have recently gained attention in the art market. Marketing solution company Wannabe International recently announced plans to create NFTs of works by Korean modern and contemporary art masters Lee Jung-seop, Kim Whanki, and Park Soo-keun and put them up for auction, which sparked a copyright infringement controversy. The authenticity of the works was unclear, and the auction was pushed forward without consulting the heirs of the original artists, causing backlash from the art community. Consequently, Wannabe International halted the auction.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism views the likelihood of similar incidents occurring again as high and plans to respond strictly going forward. The ministry stated, "To discuss and address issues arising from artworks using new technologies from multiple perspectives, we will cooperate with relevant copyright organizations, art groups, businesses, and experts to investigate the scale of infringement and continuously monitor the situation." It added, "If NFT-based creations potentially infringe on copyrights such as reproduction rights of the original works, we will actively respond by linking with copyright holders and investigating copyright infringement."

The ministry further explained, "The issue of linking NFT transactions with the validity of works or copyright transactions requires comprehensive consideration of harmonization with existing systems and coordination with other blockchain technology policies." It added, "Through the ‘Research on Copyright Law Improvement Measures Responding to Technological Changes such as Artificial Intelligence and Databases’ conducted by the Korea Copyright Commission, the ministry will form a discussion body composed of academia and field experts to gather opinions."

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