The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism attended the 46th Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to share AI and choreography copyright protection policies with the international community and strengthen multilateral cooperation.
The meeting took place from April 7 to 11 (local time) in Geneva, Switzerland. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism participated as a speaker alongside the United States, Japan, and the European Union (EU) at the ‘AI-Copyright Information Meeting’ held on April 10 (local time). They introduced Korea’s ‘AI-Copyright System Improvement Council’ and future plans to 193 member countries.
Bilateral meetings with major countries were also held. With the United States, discussions focused on litigation and policy trends related to AI learning, with Singapore, the implementation status of text and data mining (TDM) exemption regulations, and with China, recognition cases of works generated by AI. The Ministry plans to continue utilizing collaborative channels, including WIPO, for the formation of international norms.
Last December, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism published an ‘AI Copyright Guidebook’ in English to broaden the protection of K-choreographers’ rights and attract international attention.
With the global expansion of K-content, partnerships with countries in Africa and Latin America have been expanded. An agreement was reached with Nigeria for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on copyright, and with Brazil, a project plan was signed based on the agreement signed last year. The two countries plan to promote regular meetings, collaboration in the content industry, and joint projects to raise awareness of copyright.
Korea contributes approximately 958 million won annually to WIPO’s trust fund, supporting the improvement of the copyright environment in underdeveloped countries. WIPO recognizes Korea as an important partner for cooperation. Beatrice, the Deputy Director of the Regional Development Sector, expressed intentions to develop Korea’s fund into a representative project.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism evaluated that through this meeting, they successfully promoted Korea’s copyright policies to the international community and expanded cooperation foundations for resolving AI copyright issues and protecting Korean Wave (Hallyu) content.
