A Fair Digital Marketplace Ecosystem for Creators

An event will be held where creators of content like games webtoons and music can explore collaborative solutions for coexistence with large platforms that trade their creations. Industry experts academics and policymakers will gather to discuss ways to establish a fair and cooperative marketplace ecosystem enabling Koreas creative ideas in science technology and culture to grow into global businesses through intellectual property (IP) rights like copyrights and patents.

On November 6 the Presidential National Intellectual Property Committee in collaboration with KIPJA the United Intellectual Property Groups Federation and KAIST’s Master of Intellectual Property (MIP) program will hold the “KIPJA 2024 Second Half Conference” at 2:30 p.m. at the KAIST Dogok Campus in Gangnam Seoul. Sponsored by the Korea Industry Union Forum the Korea Mobile Game Association the Korea Music Copyright Association and the Korea Webtoon Industry Association this conference will focus on Challenges for Improvement in Content Platforms for Creators with experts from academia industry the Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism and the Korea Copyright Commission discussing practical steps to create a fair and cooperative digital market ecosystem for content creators.

Session 1:
The first session titled “A Fair Digital Ecosystem for IP Creators” will be moderated by Dr. Park Sung-pil Director of KAIST’s Graduate School of Future Strategy featuring three presenters:

Prof. Ko Hye-young from Seoul Womens University and International Cooperation Chair of the Korea Game Society on the topic of “Current Issues in Unfair Game Platforms and Development Strategies for the Game Industry.”
Seo Beom-gang Chairman of the Korea Webtoon Industry Association on “Building a Collaborative Ecosystem between IP Creators and Platforms.”
Jeong Hyang-mi Director of Copyright at the Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism on “Copyright Issues in the Evolving Digital Era.”
Key Highlights:
Prof. Ko Hye-young the first speaker noted that the Korean game market’s revenue grew substantially from KRW 9.7 trillion in 2013 to KRW 22.2 trillion in 2022. Despite this she pointed out two major challenges: unfair trade practices maintained by the monopoly of large app markets and the rapid growth of IP and platforms in China weakening K-game’s competitiveness. She emphasized that major platforms like Google and Apple impose high fees and mandatory in-app purchases in the mobile game sector which accounts for 64% of the Korean game market. To address this Prof. Ko highlighted the need for the government to regulate distribution platforms and support investment in creative IP development.

Seo Beom-gang Chairman of the Korea Webtoon Industry Association emphasized the need for a collaborative approach to prevent unnecessary disputes noting issues like inconsistent copyright management and lack of transparency in revenue sharing. He criticized the platforms’ practices of unilateral IP rights changes excessive content censorship frequent shifts in revenue models and delays in revenue settlements which he said are exhausting for creators.

Jeong Hyang-mi Director of Copyright at the Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism will analyze and outline various copyright issues from a policy perspective addressing topics like IP ecosystem development rights protection and AI preparedness.

Session 2:
The second session will feature a panel discussion with the three speakers joined by Park Eun-kyung an attorney from the Korea Copyright Commission and Jeong Hyun-kyung CEO of Musicow moderated by Dr. Park Sung-pil from KAIST including a Q&A with the audience.

About KIPJA:
KIPJA an incorporated association registered under the Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism and the Korean Intellectual Property Office brings together journalists from domestic broadcasting stations news agencies daily newspapers and specialized media covering intellectual property and technology. Members include current and former journalists corporate leaders cultural figures politicians government officials legal professionals and scholars interested in IP.

KIPJA Leadership and Mission:
At its annual general meeting in May KIPJA elected former Munhwa Ilbo head editor No Seong-yeol as its second president for a three-year term. In June the association held its third-anniversary conference on the theme of “The Future of IP in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”

No Seong-yeol expressed that IP embodies entrepreneurial ambition and a business mindset emphasizing that IP journalists are committed to fostering an ecosystem where ideas in science technology industry and culture can grow into businesses. No hopes that this conference will serve as an opportunity for experts from the government industry academia and organizations to discuss a fair and collaborative digital market ecosystem that supports content creators.

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