Director Lee Juyoung of 'Anna' loses lawsuit demanding removal of her name

Lawsuit Against Copyright Infringement Ban on Coupang Play
Director Lee's Side Plans to Appeal

Director Lee Ju-young, who wrote and directed the drama 'Anna' released on Coupang Play in 2022, lost a lawsuit filed against Coupang Play claiming that the work was edited without her permission.

A scene from the drama 'Anna'.
[Photo by Coupang Play]

According to Coupang Play on the 19th, the 61st Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Se-yong) recently ruled against Director Lee in a copyright infringement injunction lawsuit she filed against Coupang and the drama production company Contents Map, dismissing all of the plaintiff's claims. Coupang Play stated, "The court clarified that the director's claim that Coupang unilaterally infringed on her editing rights is not true." They also added, "The court pointed out that the director did not provide Coupang with sufficient time and materials to review the editing direction."

The conflict between the two parties arose around June 2022, just before the release of the 8-episode drama 'Anna' on Coupang Play. Director Lee completed filming 'Anna' at the end of March 2022 and delivered the first edited version to Coupang. In the first editing meeting held in April, Coupang presented about 80 revision suggestions, but the conflict reportedly began as both sides failed to narrow their differences regarding the editing direction.

At the end of May, Director Lee sent a new edited version to Coupang. Subsequently, Coupang re-edited the work by deleting some scenes and rearranging the order, releasing 'Anna' as a final 6-episode series in June. This was a result of reducing two episodes from the originally planned 8 episodes.

In response, Director Lee claimed that Coupang's editing created a work different from what she, as the creator, intended, and requested that her name be removed from the credits of 'Anna,' filing a lawsuit in September 2022.

Coupang Play countered, saying, "We requested revisions from the director in advance, but she refused, so we edited the work to align with the original production intent," and insisted, "It was not done unilaterally." They also released an 8-episode director's cut about a month after the original release in August 2022.

It is reported that Director Lee plans to appeal.

Meanwhile, 'Anna' is a drama starring singer and actress Suzy, depicting the story of a woman who ends up living a completely different life due to a trivial lie.

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