SEOUL, August 13, 2024 – Kakao Entertainment releases its 5^th white paper detailing the company’s achievements in combating the illegal distribution of webtoons and web novels in the first half of 2024. The company successfully removed 270 million illegal items, surpassing the total of 230 million items blocked in the previous five years combined. The company also identified more than 90 operators behind 31 illegal sites worldwide and shut down seven major pages. The white paper also outlines the company’s innovative strategy, which has evolved from traditional takedowns of illegal content to a focus on targeting the operators themselves to disrupt the distribution network of illegal content.

Identified over 90 operators across 31 illegal pirating websites

The most significant success documented in the white paper was achieved via the company’s innovative Operator Identification and Enforcement System. While removing illegal content is challenging, the key to breaking the vicious cycle of illegal distribution lies in permanently shutting down the sites themselves. This task is complicated by the fact that many servers are located overseas and often managed by multiple operators, making it difficult to identify and track the people responsible, enforce legal action, and ultimately shut down the sites.

Kakao Entertainment’s Illegal Distribution Response Team, dubbed P.CoK, has leveraged its extensive experience over the past few years to address this challenge. In the first half of 2024, the team successfully identified more than 90 operators running 31 illegal websites worldwide. The team’s proactive approach begins with a warning notice asking site operators to voluntarily cease activities and shutter their page. If voluntary compliance is not achieved, P.Cok collaborates with local law enforcement to initiate legal proceedings. This has led to the complete shutdown of seven major illegal sites, including the two largest sites in the Arab region, such as Gmanga, and several prominent sites publishing illegally in English.

More than 270 million illegal webtoons and web novels were removed in 1H 2024, surpassing the total from previous 5 years combined.

The white paper also highlights Kakao Entertainment’s success in keeping pace with the rapid evolution of illegal content distribution. In the first six months of this year, the company removed more than 270 million illegal webtoons and web novels, surpassing the combined total of 230 million removals documented in the previous 4 white papers. These efforts to curb illegal content, such as keeping illegal content out of search engines, have caught the attention of others in the industry. In April, Kakao Entertainment was ranked sixth in the world in the Content Removal category of the Google Transparency Report, which provides data on how policies and actions taken by governments and corporations affect users’ privacy, security, content removal, and information usage. In July, Kakao Entertainment became the first Korean entertainment company to become an official partner of Google’s Trusted Copyright Removal Program.

Interviews with copyright experts.

The fifth white paper also breaks new ground by including interviews with copyright experts, marking a significant step forward in engagement with key stakeholders in the fight against illegal content distribution. These interviews are the result of years of active collaboration with key organizations, governments, and content creators and included five in-depth discussions with: Park Jung-Youl, President of the Korea Copyright Protection Agency (KCOPA); Masaharu Ina, Director of Overseas Copyright Protection at Japan’s Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA); Park Sung-in, CEO of Samyang CNC, a Kakao Entertainment content provider; Kim Dong-hoon, a writer and member of the Illegal Webtoon Distribution Task Force; and, Han Seung-ho, an investigator from the Copyright Special Judicial Police under Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

“We appreciate Kakao Entertainment for taking the initiative to protect creators’ rights,” said Park Jung-Youl, head of KCOPA. “We will continue to strengthen our communications with private rights holders and work hard to incorporate their feedback to effectively combat infringement.”

“As copyright infringement becomes more prevalent on a pan-national scale, it is vital for rights holders to cooperate and work closely with one another,” said Masaharu Ina, director of CODA’s Overseas Copyright Protection department, emphasizing the importance of joint efforts between rights holders and Kakao Entertainment. “We are committed to working with Kakao Entertainment to address these challenges.”

“The fact that Kakao Entertainment continues to actively address these issues deserves great respect,” said Kim Dong-hoon, a creator of the Illegal Webtoon Victims’ Committee. “We need to continue to focus on this, and develop a systematic and joint response from governments, platforms, creators, and readers.”

“P.CoK is one of the most proactive teams in the content industry and we will continue to lead the fight against illegal distribution,” said Lee Ho-jun, Chief Legal Officer overseeing P.CoK. “With our operator identification technology, which is foundational to shutting down illegal sites, and the strong relationships we have built with both Korean and overseas copyright agencies, we expect to share even more significant achievements moving forward.”

*Please check out the English summary of P.CoK’s fifth Whitepaper here.