Gyeonggi-do to Improve Unfair Contract Systems for Webtoons and Web Novels by Year-End... Meeting on the 22nd

Gyeonggi Province held a meeting on the 22nd to investigate unfair contract practices among webtoon and web novel writers and decided to develop countermeasures by the end of this year. Yeom Tae-young, Deputy Governor for Economic Affairs of Gyeonggi Province (6th from the right), is taking a commemorative photo with attendees of the meeting.

Gyeonggi Province held a meeting to foster a fair contract culture in the rapidly growing webtoon industry.

On the 22nd, Gyeonggi Province announced on the 23rd that it held a 'Meeting for the Investigation of Unfair Contracts of Webtoon and Web Novel Writers' at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office.

The meeting was attended by Yeom Tae-young, Deputy Governor for Economic Affairs of Gyeonggi Province, Sung In-gyu, President of the Korea Creative Story Writers Association, Shin Il-sook, President of the Korea Cartoonists Association, Jung In-hwa, Secretary General of the Korea Cartoonists Association, Jung Sung-won, lawyer at Law Firm Daeji, and Kim Sun-min, professor at Chung-Ang University of Culture and Industry, among other creators and experts.

The attendees shared candidly the unfair contract cases experienced by creators on site under the theme of 'Unfair Contract Cases Felt by Writers,' addressing the issue of unfair contracts, which is currently the biggest topic in the webtoon industry.

In particular, there was a consensus on the need for Gyeonggi Province's role and efforts to create a fair environment in the webtoon industry. They also explored the direction of the unfair contract investigation and the current status and response measures of the cartoon industry, which has long dealt with fairness and coexistence issues.

Sung In-gyu, President of the Korea Creative Story Writers Association, said, "If Gyeonggi Province prepares improvement plans for unfair contracts through the investigation, many writers will gain strength."

Shin Il-sook, President of the Korea Cartoonists Association, emphasized, "Currently, the largest number of webtoon writers reside in Gyeonggi Province, and since the investigation is conducted by Gyeonggi Province, I hope it will be a differentiated survey."

Professor Kim Sun-min pointed out, "Young aspiring writers are exposed to an environment where they have no choice but to sign contracts even though they know they are unfair, so a standardized contract form that allows for fundamentally fair contracts is necessary."

Yeom Tae-young, Deputy Governor for Economic Affairs of Gyeonggi Province, promised, "Unfair practices between creators and production companies lead to distrust and inevitably become obstacles to the development of the webtoon industry. We will devise measures at the provincial level to create a fair environment where creators can receive just compensation for their creative activities so that webtoons can grow significantly."

Gyeonggi Province plans to reflect the various opinions and suggestions raised at the meeting in the ongoing investigation until the end of this year and use them as basic data for improving the unfair contract system for webtoon and web novel writers.

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