[Design of Victory] "Golf Course Copyright, Creativity Recognized for the First Time"... Daeryook & AJU Leads Supreme Court Remand Ruling

Daeryook & AJU IP Team Wins Copyright Lawsuit Against Golfzon
Lower Court Denied Creativity... Supreme Court Orders Retrial

"A golf course is not simply about drawing lines along the given terrain. It is a creative endeavor that involves forming new land, designing the flow and difficulty of each hole, and even shaping the overall scenery."

Sunsun Choi, attorney at DLA Piper Korea (from left), Jung Eun Kim, attorney at DLA Piper Korea, and Jihae Ahn, attorney at DLA Piper Korea, are posing ahead of an interview with The Asia Business Daily on the 30th at DLA Piper Korea in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang

Choi Jongseon, the lawyer leading the Intellectual Property (IP) team at Daeryook & AJU LLC, explained this during an interview with The Asia Business Daily on April 30, discussing his role in representing domestic golf course design companies such as Orange Engineering and Songho Golf Design. He led them to victory in a Supreme Court remand ruling in a copyright infringement lawsuit against Golfzon.

On February 26, the Supreme Court overturned the lower court's decision, which had uniformly denied the creativity of golf courses. The court ordered a new review to determine whether the selection, arrangement, and combination of elements in each golf course exhibited creative individuality that distinguishes them from existing courses. This ruling draws attention as it is the first case to seriously examine whether actual golf courses implemented in screen golf services can be protected under copyright law.

◆"Golf Course Design Is the Design of Experience"

The main issue was whether a golf course qualifies as a functional work with recognized creativity. The court of first instance sided with the design companies, but the appellate court denied creativity due to game rules and geographical constraints. Daeryook & AJU LLC argued during the Supreme Court appeal that this judgment applied excessively strict standards. Kim Jeongeun, a lawyer, stated, "The appellate court viewed golf courses in a two-dimensional way, but in reality, aside from the boundaries of the site, the process involves elevating and cutting land to create new terrain. Designers meticulously calculate the location and depth of bunkers, the undulations of each hole, attack routes, course connections, and even the scenery."

In fact, Daeryook & AJU LLC presented materials to the court comparing pre-existing terrain with contour changes after construction, blueprints showing dramatically different designs by various architects for the same site, and photos and documents illustrating the design intentions for each hole. They emphasized that "golf course design is the act of creating something out of nothing." Lawyer An Jihae explained, "Even if courses look similar from above, an actual golf course is a three-dimensional space, and from the first to the eighteenth hole, the overall flow provides golfers with entirely different experiences."

◆A Legal Battle Lasting Over Six Years... Criteria for Functional Works Also Set

This lawsuit, which began in 2018, has continued for more than six years. During the appellate trial, an extensive process was undertaken, comparing the design blueprints and screen golf implementations for each golf course and each hole, one by one. Lawyer Kim noted, "With so many courses and hundreds of holes, we had to explain exactly which aspects were the same or different, and why certain differences were not fundamental." She added, "In the Supreme Court stage, we directly contested the creativity of golf courses, conducting a broad review of domestic and international precedents, academic papers, and foreign legislative examples."

The significance of this ruling extends beyond golf courses. The Supreme Court held that functional limitations do not automatically negate creativity, which is now seen as an important standard when assessing the creativity of works predicated on functionality, such as buildings or garden designs. Lawyer Choi stated, "In the remand trial, we will thoroughly contest remaining issues such as creativity, similarity, and damages, to ensure that creators' rights are fully recognized."

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