WEBTOON Delivered a Presentation on Copyright Protection Activities as a Representative of the Digital Comics Industry
WEBTOON Delivered a Presentation on Copyright Protection Activities as a Representative of the Digital Comics Industry
WEBTOON Delivered a Presentation on Copyright Protection Activities as a Representative of the Digital Comics Industry
- WEBTOON presented on the significance of safeguarding web comics and webnovel copyrights and Toon Radar’s achievements at the WIPO-MCST Regional High-Level Meeting on Copyright Enforcement in the Digital Environment
- In February, WEBTOON was invited also to the 'APEC Intellectual Property Expert Group (IPEG) Forum’ hosted in the U.S., and was acknowledged as best practices for copyright protection efforts
- Questions poured in after the presentation. “A tremendous technical achievement considering the massive user base.”
- Protecting creative ecosystem with Toon Radar is an integral part of WEBTOON's 'WEBTOON With' program
April 28, 2023
WEBTOON's copyright protection activities have gained widespread recognition at copyright-related global events as best practices in combating illegal digital comics distribution. Since 2017, WEBTOON has implemented and utilized their self-developed 'Toon Radar' in order to track pirates and safeguard the creative ecosystem.
On the 27th, WEBTOON played a prominent role as a representative of web comics and webnovel content companies at the ‘WIPO-MCST Regional High-Level Meeting on Copyright Enforcement in the Digital Environment’, co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and supervised by the Korea Copyright Protection Agency. WEBTOON delivered a compelling presentation, emphasizing the significance of safeguarding web comics and webnovel copyrights and showcasing notable instances of effective countermeasures employed to combat the illicit distribution of web comics.
The WIPO-MCST Regional High-Level Meeting on Copyright Enforcement in the Digital Environment, held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, on the 26th and 27th brought together copyright policy officers from 10 major countries where Korean content is extensively exported, including the United States, Japan, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The meeting facilitated productive discussions among overseas participants and Korean copyright protection experts, focusing on enhancing collaboration to address global copyright infringement.
In February, WEBTOON received an invitation to the 'APEC Intellectual Property Expert Group (IPEG) Forum' hosted in Palm Springs, California, USA. As a participant, WEBTOON took the opportunity to highlight the importance of copyright protection for web comics to global copyright policy officers and introduced the company’s efforts to safeguard copyrights on their platform.
Presenter Chunghyun Seo, the lead of WEBTOON’s AI Protection, emphasized the increasing prominence of web comics in the entertainment industry, particularly through various media adaptations and video-centric formats. He pointed out that as the market expands, the prevention of illegal content distribution becomes increasingly crucial. He then explained the gravity of the issue, highlighting the challenges posed by the surge in illegal distribution, which emerged alongside the rapid growth of the webtoon market.
Continuing the discussion, he further highlighted, "To tackle the issue of illegal distribution of web comics in a groundbreaking manner, WEBTOON has developed the distinctive 'Toon Radar,' a technology specifically designed to prevent such unauthorized distribution. Through this innovation, our aim is to minimize the unlawful dissemination of paid web comics content, ultimately safeguarding creators' profits." The presentation also shed light on WEBTOON's comprehensive efforts to protect the copyrights of creative works.
WEBTOON's proprietary 'Toon Radar' system, implemented in July 2017, efficiently identifies and blocks initial illegal leakers by embedding imperceptible user identification data into web comics images. This technology has successfully enabled tracking and curbing illegal web comics reproductions both domestically and internationally. Based on WEBTOON's estimations, the economic value of safeguarded work rights through Toon Radar, achieved by delaying the illicit distribution of major works, amounts to at least KRW 200 billion annually. This figure is expected to rise to approximately KRW 300 billion, accounting for prevented cases altogether.
WEBTOON has effectively achieved a significant reduction in the illicit distribution of web comics through the implementation of Toon Radar. Slowing down the speed of illegal distribution stands as a pivotal objective in minimizing the detrimental impact caused by such unauthorized sharing. By prolonging the duration of illegal content availability, creators are afforded increased protection of their paid profits, while simultaneously diminishing user demand for unlawfully distributed material.
According to the infographic of ‘WEBTOON With’, a creative ecosystem support program released by WEBTOON on the 27th, in the early days of Toon Radar, paid content was uploaded to illegal sites in less than a day, but currently it is delayed up to 4 weeks. Also, as of September of last year, the contents of WEBTOON, which were uploaded to the first illegal overseas sites that illegally copied and distributed contents directly from WEBTOON, decreased by about 30% compared to the beginning of the same year.
In addition, WEBTOON has formed partnerships with several companies specializing in blocking search words and monitoring illegal distribution of contents, and has formed an organization specializing in social media monitoring and a copyright infringement response TF within the company to respond immediately to copyright infringement.
Mr. Seo said, “We are seeking various methods to respond to the evolving web comics piracy and distribution methods, and recently we are focusing on advancing machine learning technology that detects signs of piracy activities and preemptively blocks suspicious accounts. This year, in collaboration with our teams in North America, we started a project to send mass warnings to illegal web comics sites abroad, and in fact, all of WEBTOON’s original English titles were taken down on a famous illegal webtoon site overseas.”
During the gathering, notable responses from participants included remarks like, "Watermarking is a familiar technology, but witnessing its implementation in this unique manner is truly remarkable" and "Given the extensive user base, Toon Radar's accomplishments are technically astonishing and remarkably impressive." The copyright policy officers from various countries demonstrated significant interest in the achievements of Toon Radar.
Additionally, the ongoing technological research focused on copyright protection and nurturing creative ecosystems, centered around Toon Radar, is an integral part of WEBTOON's 'WEBTOON With' program.
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