Supreme Court: "Sharing Links for Illegal Movie and Drama Replays Also Constitutes Aiding Copyright Infringement"

[Image source=Getty Images]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The Supreme Court has ruled that if someone shares links to movies and dramas illegally posted on overseas internet sharing sites on their personal site and earns advertising revenue, they should be punished for aiding and abetting copyright infringement under the Copyright Act.

On the 15th, the Supreme Court's Third Division (Presiding Justice Ahn Cheolsang) announced that it overturned the lower court's acquittal in the appeal trial of Mr. A, who was charged with aiding and abetting copyright infringement, and remanded the case to the Seoul Central District Court.

Previously, Mr. A was prosecuted for sharing a total of 636 links on the B site he operated between 2014 and 2015, which connected to copyright-infringing content, and earning banner advertising revenue.

It was investigated that he copied links connecting to copyright-infringing content shared on overseas internet sharing sites without the copyright holders' permission and posted them on his own site, categorizing them by type such as movies, dramas, entertainment shows, and current affairs programs to make it easier for visitors to find the links.

The first trial found Mr. A guilty and sentenced him to four months in prison with a two-year probation. However, the second trial overturned the verdict and acquitted him.

The second trial court stated, "The act of linking in this case essentially only indicates the web location information or path of individual posts stored on servers such as websites," and "even if users click on the link and are directly connected to the post, it does not constitute 'transmission of the post'." It also added that it could not be seen that Mr. A provided space for the overseas internet sharing site operators to upload copyright-infringing content or that he reinforced the criminal intent.

However, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial and reconsideration of the case. This follows the Supreme Court en banc's ruling on a similar case on the 9th of last month, establishing a new precedent that "simply posting links to copyright-infringing content constitutes aiding and abetting."

The court pointed out regarding Mr. A, "He continuously posted the connection links on his site for commercial purposes while fully aware of the illegal acts of the principal offender (the overseas internet sharing site operator)," and "The links allowed the public to easily access the infringing posts at individually chosen times and places." It further stated, "The lower court erred in its understanding of the legal principles concerning aiding and abetting the infringement of the public transmission right, which affected the judgment."

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