The Korea Herald
Illegal scanlation
is ruining
the webtoon industry
Written by Lim Jae-seong
(Photo: Herald DB)

»

The Korea Herald
Scanlation : the distribution of translated webtoons
without the copyright holder’s consent.
Profits from scanlated versions do not go to authors or artists.

Illegal scanlation is pushing webtoon artists to the brink.
Scan + Translation
= Scanlation
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Some fansubs* evolved into organized piracy as they got popularity and profit by illegally posting the translated webtoons on the internet.
*fansub: a group of fans who translate work
Creators are being deprived of their rewards for efforts as fewer readers choose to pay for authorized versions.
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(Survey on 145 webtoon creators who experienced piracy, conducted by Park, Lezhin Comics creator)
Fansubs post the webtoons on illegal platforms, often plastered with obscene advertisements, or open a new platform to take full advantage of the pirated content.
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The creators say they experienced a financial hit after the work was seen on illegal platforms.

They say the shock of being pirated even affected their health.
“I got a report of an artist whose income dropped to nearly a sixth
(of the income before being pirated).”

Kim Dong-hoon
(the former head of the Korean Webtoon Creator Union)
(Source: Park)
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The financial hit is pushing young talent out of the comic industry.

About 40 percent of the creators subsist on less than 80 percent of Korea’s average wage, about 30 million won ($22,000) in 2021.

Of them, nearly two-thirds are young novices who debuted after 2015, according to Korea Creative Content Agency.
“I am afraid this piracy will end the webtoon industry, like Korea’s published comic books in the 90's."

Kim Dong-hoon
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Some artists suffered from cyberbullying for making voices against illegal scanlations.
We have the right to enjoy and spread webtoons for free.
You are so ungrateful. They translated your works and let them be known internationally.
"They call me a racist who stops them
from enjoying webtoons in their language. But I just wanted to secure what I created."

YD (The webtoon artist who suffered from cyberbulling)
(Photo: YD)
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Platforms and the government are moving to stop piracy on websites and social media channels.
Kakao officially created a monitoring team, consisting of more than four language speakers.

They blocked about 2.25 million cases of piracy in five months.
The Copyrights Overseas Promotion Association of Korea is also investigating on behalf of the platforms and authors.
(Image: Kakao Entertainment,
Copyright Overseas Promotion Association)
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They closed an Africa-based platform with scanlated webtoons and detained a suspect in April.

They also provide support for copyright holders to file international lawsuits.
“We are now working with Interpol on the investigation of 22 sites this year.”

Lee Ka-jin
(The deputy director of Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism)

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea and police embarked on a scheme against international piracy in 2021.
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However, creators are calling for stricter measures.
“We asked the government to monitor the pirates and block their sites. Yet, we found that it was insufficient to deal with increasing scanlation,”

A task force team member against piracy in the Korea Cartoonist Association told the Korea Herald.
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“We will ask the state to treat scanlation and related actions as international cybercrime in our visit to the National Assembly in July,” the member added.
"Minors are easily exposed to violence and sexual content that they cannot access on legal webtoon platforms."





"We are also concerned that the webtoon can be used as bait on internet sites that fund organized crime around the world.”
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