Law enforcement officials raid an office operating Agitoon websites, which have been illegally sharing copyrighted content from web comics and novels, Aug. 27. Courtesy of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
‘Stronger punishment is key to prevention’
By Ko Dong-hwan
Korea’s major web comic distributors are engaged in a legal battle against unauthorized platforms, filing a petition with the court against website operators who have been sharing web comic and novel content without the original distributors’ consent.
Seven companies that formed an antipiracy association against operators of Agitoon and Agitoon Novel submitted a petition on Tuesday to the Daejeon Provincial Court. The court held a trial on Thursday regarding the allegations against the Agitoon websites.
The plaintiffs in the petition demanded the accused suspects receive a maximum penalty so that the consequence would deter further crimes from occurring in the future.
Kakao Entertainment, Naver Webtoon, Kidari Studio, and other members of the association stated in their petition that Agitoon websites have been engaging in unlawful activities since 2021, including the unauthorized copying and distribution of copyrighted digital content.
Agitoon has become the largest pirated content distributor for web comics and novels in Korea. According to the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office, which has been investigating the case, Agitoon websites stole 750,000 episodes of web comics and 2.5 million episodes of web novels.
The plaintiffs said a copyright violation crime “seriously damages the country’s K-content industry.”
In the petition, Kakao Entertainment criticized Korean courts for imposing “only puny” punishments on perpetrators of such crimes, arguing that these penalties fail to reflect the severity of the financial damage incurred.
“Given the number of infringing posts, the volume of online traffic they generated, and the number of visitors they attracted, the financial and psychological harm suffered by the original content creators should be estimated in the billions of won or even beyond quantifiable measures,” the company said.
“The pirated content, once posted on Agitoon, is subsequently disseminated across social media platforms, causing additional harm. This situation demands stringent legal penalties severe enough to deter similar criminal activities.”
Illegally shared web comics are listed on one of Agitoon's websites / Screen capture from Agitoon
Naver Webtoon, the operator of the world’s largest web comic portal, said the unauthorized distribution of digital content has escalated in tandem with the industry's growth. It emphasized its “substantial efforts and ambitious commitment to safeguarding the nation’s creative content ecosystem.”
“Unauthorized distribution is a serious offense that not only infringes on creators’ rights but also hinders the industry's development,” a Naver Webtoon official said. “We hope the court delivers a ruling that serves as a strong deterrent.”
Companies face significant limitations in safeguarding their digital intellectual properties (IPs) against piracy, as predicting when and how their IPs might be stolen is nearly impossible, a Kakao Entertainment official explained. She emphasized the need for central government intervention to help deter such crimes.
“We cannot determine, from a technical standpoint, how our IPs are being stolen. Currently, our only option is to identify websites hosting our pirated IPs and shut them down,” the official said. “We also reject criticism that we have failed to protect our IPs, as there is a limit to what we can reasonably do.”
Because the illegal sharing platforms host their servers overseas, tracking them down requires support from Interpol. However, the official said these requests are often delayed due to the organization’s higher-priority cases.
“There were times when people freely downloaded content through P2P (peer-to-peer) platforms. However, years of social campaigns, such as Good Download, eventually raised awareness and stopped such practices,” the official said. “Minister of Culture Yu In-chon has already acknowledged the illegality of sharing unauthorized digital IPs. We urge the authorities to enforce stronger punishments than before, to send a clear warning.”
The ministry and prosecutors in Daejeon arrested a man in August who was responsible for operating the Agitoon websites. During their operation, the Agitoon websites constantly changed their names to evade detection.
English (United States) ·