[2022 National Audit] "Integrated Publishing Distribution Network Useless to Authors"

Unable to Verify Direct Sales Volume... Only Disclosed to Publishers
"Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Promised to Reflect UCI but Failed to Specify"

On the 6th, as the heatwave raged, citizens were cooling off at the Kyobo Bookstore Gwanghwamun branch in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

Concerns have been raised that the integrated publishing distribution network, established to create a fair publishing distribution structure, remains opaque to authors.

According to data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism disclosed on the 5th by Lee Sang-heon, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee (Democratic Party), authors cannot directly check their sales figures on the integrated network. This information is only disclosed to publishers.

Publishers are not obligated to respond to authors' requests. Although an intermediary called the integrated network exists, authors still have to rely on unilateral notifications from publishers to verify sales numbers.

Lee stated, "Some publishing organizations claim that authors can check sales figures through their own systems, but in reality, publisher approval is required," adding, "The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism needs to actively step in to protect authors' rights."

Issues such as royalty omissions also occur in the web novel industry. Since web novels are not included in the integrated network, there is effectively no safety mechanism. Unlike the integrated network based on the International Standard Book Number (ISBN), web novels use the Universal Content Identifier (UCI) system.

The situation is no different for e-books, whose user base has recently surged. Although they can be registered on the integrated network, they cannot utilize distribution and statistical functions such as metadata sharing and sales data linkage.

Lee criticized, "The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has failed to concretely incorporate UCI into the integrated network," adding, "They did not inquire about the willingness of related industries to participate nor conduct basic demand surveys." He further emphasized, "As small and medium platforms and companies continue to emerge in the web novel sector, blind spots may arise," and warned, "We must not neglect this issue until the same problems occur again."

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