Overseas Copyright Infringement: Up to 150 Million Won in Support... "Technical Protection" Also Backed

MCST and KCPA Recruiting for Voucher Program Until the 13th
New Technical Support Introduced, Including DRM and Watermarking

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Copyright Protection Agency announced on the 4th that they will be accepting applications until the 13th for participants in the "Customized Overseas Copyright Voucher" program, which supports companies and individuals that have suffered damage from overseas copyright infringement.

This program supports activities such as illegal distribution monitoring, overseas legal consulting, and litigation costs in cooperation with specialized implementing institutions. This year, "technical protection measures" such as digital rights management (DRM) and watermark insertion have been newly added to the support items. The scope of support has been expanded beyond ex-post legal responses to include ex-ante preventive measures that technically block illegal leakage.

The support limit is up to 100 million won per company or individual. In the case of "joint response," where three or more right holders who have suffered damage from the same infringement respond together, they can receive up to 150 million won. Reflecting the surging demand for responses to overseas copyright infringement, the government earlier finalized this year's project budget at 1.8 billion won, a 105% increase from the previous year.

The Korea Copyright Protection Agency achieved tangible results last year through support for overseas litigation. In particular, through a lawsuit in a U.S. federal court, it had approximately 30 derivative domains of the illegal streaming site "Kokoa TV" taken down. It also blocked numerous illegal private game servers by using the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), identified the operators, and proceeded to file claims for damages.

This year, the support infrastructure will be further strengthened. The number of specialized institutions providing legal consulting and other services will be increased from the previous 43 to 57, and additional points will be given in the selection process to individual creators and small and medium-sized enterprises. All procedures from application to settlement can be handled in a one-stop manner through the "Copyright Protection Integrated Portal."

Park Jeongryeol, President of the Korea Copyright Protection Agency, said, "Overseas copyright infringement is an area in which it is difficult for individual right holders to respond on their own," adding, "We will focus on effective remedies for damages, from blocking illegal distribution to overseas litigation."

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