1. Copyright infringement
Infringement of copyright refers to the act of using the rights granted to a copyright holder without the permission of the copyright holder. Even with the permission of the copyright holder, if it is outside the scope of the permitted conditions, it is also copyright infringement. Infringement of copyright means infringement of each share constituting the copyright, such as the right to reproduce, the right to publicly transmit, or the right to perform. In case of copyright infringement, relief can be obtained through dispute mediation, civil litigation, and criminal litigation.
2. Determination of Copyright Infringement
A distinction must be made between ideas that are not protected by copyright law and expressions that are protected by copyright law. This is called the idea-expression dichotomy. Determination of copyright infringement is based on how similar these expressions are. It is common to prioritize whether the defendant has had an opportunity to access the literary work of the plaintiff. The occurrence of the same error between two literary works is also used as a factor in judging this substantial similarity. For this reason, there are many cases where some copyright holders intentionally add errors to their literary works.
3. Remedies for Copyright Infringement
1) Copyright Dispute Mediation: The most basic solution to copyright disputes is litigation, but in general, due to the time, effort, and expense involved in a litigation, alternative dispute resolution procedures has been given substantial attention. The Copyright Commission is in charge of mediating and resolving these copyright disputes.
2) Civil Remedies: The copyright owner can request the suspension of infringement against the person who infringes or is likely to infringe the right, and can claim the prevention of infringement, compensation for damages, and restoration of reputation. It can also claim necessary measures, such as the destruction of objects created by the infringement.
3) Criminal Remedies: Infringers who have been prosecuted will be punished according to the type of crime. The Copyright Act stipulates penalties for violations of certain obligations as well as acts of copyright infringement. In all cases, only intentional offenders are punished, and there are other crimes such as illegal publication or violation of specifying the source.
4. Restrictions on liability of online service providers
1) Internet portals and copyrights: According to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the United States, the copyright holder notifies the online service provider (OSP) of the fact that his/her literary work is on the Internet, and the OSP removes the work, thereby avoiding legal responsibility. This is a method adopted in Europe, China, and Korea as well.
2) Obligations and Limitations of Liability of Online Service Providers: OSP is in a position to most effectively prevent infringement of digital literary works. To give a certain role to prevent or stop copyright infringement and to limit the corresponding liability would be a good approach to ensure smooth performance and distribution of literary works through the Internet.
According to the revised law in 2011, OSP can be classified into four types. If specific requirements are met for each type, responsibility for copyright infringement can be avoided so that OSP business can stably conduct, and at the same time, it can actively participate in roles to prevent copyright infringement. The four types of OSP can be defined as follows. First, the Internet access service is a service that connects a network and a network, and services such as SK Broadband belong to this service. The caching service refers to a service in which OSP automatically temporarily stores works in a cache server separated from the central server so that users can use the literary work in the cache server. A storage service refers to a service that allows users to store and use certain data such as blogs, cafes, and web hard drives on a hard disk or server. Lastly, the information search engine service refers to services that provide information on the Internet, such as Daum, Naver, and Google.
5. Prohibition of Neutralization of Technical Protection Measures
1) Reinforcement of protection and immunity for technical protection measures: Copyright is a tool used to restrict access to literary works. The technical protection measures for use control refer to measures to eradicate the copy itself, like the copy protection device of a CD, and the technical protection measures for access control refer to a license-type protection method that prevents operation in case of illegal copying even if it is copied.
2) Case of 소리바다Copyright Dispute: 소리바다 developed a new P2P protocol in which the exchange of files does not go through a central server, allowing users to share music files. Four record labels affiliated with the Korea Record Industry Association sued 소리바다 for violating the Copyright Act, but 소리바다 argued that it was not copyright infringement because 소리바다 did not store music files on the server but only intermediaries users. The Supreme Court ruled that storing music files on their own computers by 소리바다 users constituted duplication, and that 소리바다 was an abetter because 소리바다 mediated users to infringe on the right to copy.
6. Regulations for eradicating online illegal reproduction
1) Order to suspend account with repeated illegal reproduction: By order of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the account of the sender of illegal reproduction may be suspended for up to 6 months.
2) Order to stop service of bulletin boards for distribution of illegal reproductions: This may also suspend all bulletin boards or services used for distribution of illegal reproductions by order of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
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