Yongin City "Legal Action Against Unauthorized Use of Character 'Joayang'"

"Unauthorized Commercial Use Constitutes Copyright Infringement"

Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province has announced legal action against the unauthorized use of the city's official character 'Joayang'.

On the 7th, Yongin City stated that it will strongly respond to any commercial unauthorized use of the character 'Joayang' without the city's permission.

'Joayang' is an official character developed by Yongin City, symbolizing the 'dragon' that represents the city. The city registered the copyright for Joayang in August 2019 and designated it as 'Public Nuri Type 4' in June last year, prohibiting indiscriminate use as secondary works or commercial use. In June this year, the city also registered trademarks for 25 items across 5 types of products with the Korean Intellectual Property Office.

Yisang-il, Mayor of Yongin City, is taking a commemorative photo with Jeong Haerin, President of Samsung C&T Resort Division, against the background of 'Joayang' and 'Resi'.
[Photo by Yongin City]

Since next year is the 'Year of the Blue Dragon,' the city plans to actively protect the copyright, anticipating an increase in unauthorized commercial use of Joayang's image.

The city explained that any modification or commercial use of Joayang's image requires prior consultation and approval procedures with the city. Unauthorized use of the character for product sales and distribution will result in criminal charges under copyright law as well as civil claims for damages.

Starting this month, the city will monitor copyright infringement cases both online and offline and will take strong legal action against detected violations based on citizen reports.

Meanwhile, the city has recently been conducting various promotional activities using the 'Joayang' character. These include the production of 3D animations, the release of merchandise, and emoticon distribution events.

In particular, in July, the city signed a business agreement for a 'character collaboration project' with Everland Resort. Accordingly, both parties plan to release about 40 collaborative products featuring Joayang and Everland's popular character 'Resi.' Next year, they also plan to present collaborative content with EBS's character 'Pengsoo.'

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