Announcement of Standard Web Novel Contract... Preferential Treatment Applied to Ministry of Culture Contests Starting This Year

Ministry of Culture Announces Three Types of Standard Contracts for Web Novels
Ensuring Transparency in Sales and Settlements
Provisions Established to Improve the Serialization Environment

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 20th that it has finalized and officially notified three types of standard contracts for the web novel sector. These include the publishing rights agreement, the exclusive electronic publishing rights agreement, and the serialization contract. The draft was prepared with the participation of creators, production companies, platforms, and academia, all members of the web novel ecosystem.

According to the draft released by the Ministry, considering practical difficulties in cases where contracts are automatically renewed, the obligation for businesses to provide prior notice of contract termination is not required; instead, the copyright holder’s right to terminate is stipulated. It also ensures transparency in the settlement process by including sales-related information that should ideally be part of the revenue statement, and guarantees the right to pause serialization due to accidents or illness. Additionally, provisions to improve the serialization environment for web novel authors are included.

To promote the widespread use of the standard contracts, the Ministry plans to give preferential treatment to businesses or organizations using the standard contracts when applying for related projects such as the web novel translation support project starting this year. A “Standard Contract Guidebook for the Web Novel Sector,” which explains the meanings of the revised clauses and summarizes precautions, will also be produced and distributed in the second half of the year.

Furthermore, the Ministry intends to continuously seek institutional measures to create a fair environment, such as submitting a bill to the National Assembly to amend the “Publishing Culture Industry Promotion Act” to prohibit the unfair transfer of promotional and price discount costs.

Minister Yoo In-chon of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated, “Thanks to the efforts of all members of the web novel ecosystem, including creators, production companies, and platforms, we were able to conclude a ‘win-win agreement’ and proceed to establish the standard contracts for the web novel sector. The Ministry will do its best to ensure the healthy and sustainable development of the web novel industry, which functions as K-content itself and sometimes as the source of ‘K-Story,’ expanding globally.”

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