[Reporter’s Notebook] Hallyu Content Needs a Legal Information Sharing Platform

Small Companies Lack Resources to Find and Analyze Overseas Information
Shortage of Content-Specific Data... Overseas Centers of KOCCA Should Be Utilized

With the global interest in K-content, there has been a surge in overseas expansion within the content industry. The problem is that there are not many companies well-versed in foreign legal systems. Most lack the capacity to find and analyze information due to their small-scale business environments. They find themselves in difficult situations after belatedly encountering local regulations, laws, and taboos.

Game company A withdrew from Southeast Asia after failing to prevent unauthorized use of its CI and logo. Webtoon company B experienced sudden contract cancellations in the Middle East due to issues with censorship and publishing. These problems arise because the information-sharing platform, which should serve as the foundation for the expansion of Hallyu content, is inadequate.

Overseas expansion requires four main types of legal information: country-specific laws (commercial law, tax law, labor law, corporate accounting standards), industry policy information (service standards, requirements, guidelines), genre-specific market information, and regional cultural and religious codes. Related institutions such as the Korea Legislation Research Institute, the National Assembly Library, and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) provide foreign laws and regulatory information. However, it is difficult to consider this information as specialized for content. Without regular monitoring and updates, the information inevitably becomes outdated and disconnected from reality. There are alternatives, though.

Among institutions with comprehensive infrastructure, the Overseas Business Center operated by the Korea Creative Content Agency stands out. It currently has bases in 10 countries to assist content companies in their overseas expansion. Considering the recent spread of Hallyu, this scale is insufficient. At minimum, it should be expanded to the level of overseas cultural centers (33 locations) to enable smooth operation.

There is no need to rely entirely on government budgets. Efforts to expand partnerships with existing institutions and encourage industry participation are more important. Providing vouchers to companies that actively collect information and offering customized information could increase participation. If a sharing platform is built based on these efforts, its scope could expand to global knowledge information grounded in Hallyu. A think tank to support K-content and a springboard befitting the status of Korea as a cultural powerhouse are needed.

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