Webtoon Piracy Site "Ajitoon" Ordered to Pay 2 Billion Won in Damages to Kakao and Naver

From Arrest to Criminal and Civil Punishment: A Heavy Blow

An Industry-Wide Response Sets a Precedent for Copyright Protection

Scene at the time of the arrest of Ajitoon operator

Kakao Entertainment and Naver Webtoon have won a civil lawsuit against the operator of "Ajitoon," the largest illegal webtoon and web novel distribution site in Korea.

On March 11, the court fully upheld the plaintiffs' claim for damages of 1 billion won each, ordering the payment of delayed interest and provisional execution. Ajitoon was a large-scale piracy site that uploaded approximately 750,000 webtoons and 2.5 million web novels without authorization. The operator was arrested in August 2024 through a joint investigation by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office. He was sentenced to two years in prison in a criminal trial, and the sentence was upheld on appeal.

Victimized companies such as Kakao Entertainment, Naver Webtoon, and Lezhin Entertainment joined forces to reveal damages estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of won. They formed the "Webtoon Illegal Distribution Response Council" and submitted petitions for severe punishment during the criminal proceedings. In the subsequent civil lawsuit, they thoroughly proved the scope and duration of the crimes, which led the court to grant their claim in full.

This ruling marks the first case where, following government investigations and criminal punishment, webtoon platforms have also collectively secured civil damages. Hojoon Lee, Head of Legal at Kakao Entertainment, emphasized, "This is a meaningful outcome in holding both civil and criminal liability to the end for large-scale copyright infringement," adding, "We will continue to rigorously protect creators' rights through dedicated legal action."

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