`Flawed` copyright law takes effect today

Your five-year-old daughter mimmicks a popular song at home. She is so cute, so you pick up your camcorder to record her one-minute performance. You upload the clip on your blog to share it with your friends and relatives.

This seemingly benign act, however, is in violation of the Korean copyright law. No kidding. Last month, there was an actual incident in which a video clip showing a five-year-old kid singing Son Dam-bi`s "Crazy" - for 58 seconds - was uploaded on a blog run by Naver.com, and the Korea Music Copyright Association asked the country`s biggest portal to block public access to the video clip.

Online users cite the case as a striking example that heralds what would come once the revised copyright law goes into effect today. Although the government authorities and copyright associations try to reassure Korean online users that no drastic development will happen, anxiety is spreading far and wide across the local cyberspace.



KOMCA recently released a statement describing its position about the sorry incident surrounding the innocent girl, but it emphasized that even under the existing law it`s illegal to upload a video clip containing lyrics or music performances on blogs or online communities, unless the person in question gets formal permission from all the copyright holders.

The revised copyright law also explicitly bans people from capturing footage of a film or TV drama. There are now countless blog postings which contain such captured images from movies and TV dramas, so a growing number of bloggers are cleaning up their personal writings, screening out potential materials that would invite legal disputes.

At the same time, some bloggers and community operators are abandoning Korean services in order to avoid lawsuits and seek freer cyberspace. This "cyber exile" phenomenon underscores the deepening distrust of Korean users about the new copyright law, which is allegedly designed to protect copyright holders only, while disregarding the right of ordinary users, as evidenced by the Son Dam-bi song`s use by a kid.

Under the revised rules, the Culture Ministry can shut down an online community or service in connection with copyright violations, even without a complaint from copyright holders. When the user or bulletin board gets the shut-down order three times, the ministry can shut down the services in question for up to six months under a "three strikes" system.

The so-called "heavy uploader," who habitually puts illegal material on cyber communities, will be subject to the same three-strike-out system.

But what ordinary bloggers fear the most is the threat from law firms. A host of Korean law firms are currently representing copyright holders in the fields of music, images, and video, and they often send an email to users, asking them to pay a settlement fee in return for dropping the lawsuit.

In April, a local law firm threatened to file a suit against 8,047 users on the charge of copyright violations, and earned 7 billion won in settlement fees, a tactic that turned out to be illegal. Experts said if such a threat comes from a law firm, users should not opt for a settlement and instead seek consultations with the related authorities.

To relieve the anxiety, some copyright holders are venturing out to open up their content for free. Popular Web cartoonist Kang Full said he will allow his online comic strips to be freely circulated in blogs and cyber communities.

The Culture Ministry earlier put out a press release, stressing that the revised copyright law targets heavy uploaders and companies which make huge profits out of pirated materials, brushing aside growing concerns about the negative impact on freedom of expression on the internet.

To ensure freedom of expression, the ministry said, a "fair use" act was proposed at the National Assembly in October last year, and the standing committee is now reviewing the proposed revision that would allow people to use copyrighted materials without any formal permission when they make non-commericial material such as online user-created content.

(insight@heraldm.com)



By Yang Sung-jin