Pirated Content a Serious Threat to South Korean Webtoon Industry

[Len]

SEOUL — South Korean webtoon makers are being hit hard by illegal copies, suffering economic damages of over 200 billion won every month.

The worrying figure comes from a report from Webtoon Guide citing one website known for sharing illegal copies of South Korean webtoon series, which was submitted to the Korea Creative Content Agency, the National IT Industry Promotion Agency said on Tuesday.

The website was attracting 51.8 million visitors every month as of last October, with the number of unique visitors estimated at nearly 5.3 million. Each visitor spent an average of nearly 18 minutes on the website, looking at 12.18 pages per session.

Based on the data, with a click through rate of 50 percent, the economic damages resulting from pirated content shared at this website alone were estimated at 139 billion won.

“There are over 200 websites for pirated webtoons in Korean language alone and given that they generate a significant amount of traffic, the damages are expected to be worth over 200 billion won. With international platforms thrown into the mix, the figure would be astronomical,” said Kang, who heads Webtoon Guide.

Kang warns illegal copying poses a serious threat to South Korea’s webtoon industry, as stagnating sales in recent years despite increased investment and the growing number of webtoon series are thought to be the result of widely available pirated content.

As solutions, Kang suggested industry-level cooperation in protecting copyrights, treating illegal copying as a social issue, and swifter countermeasures to shut down illegal websites.