"Please watch webtoons and web novels on official serial sites." It is highly natural. However, amid low copyright awareness and weak punishment, the use of illegal creative sharing sites is implicitly prevalent. Also, the sites have become increasingly sophisticated while showing no signs of abating.

As the primary consumers of webtoons and web novels are the MZ generation (born in the early 1980s and early 2000s), it is estimated that many people who belong to this generation are using these kinds of unlawful routes. Regarding the illegal webtoon and web novel sharing sites, the reality was found in an anonymous survey conducted by “Channel PNU” on students at our university. “Channel PNU” conducted a "Survey on the Use of Illegal Webtoon and Web Novel Distribution Sites," from August 1st to 4th. 100 students at the Busan campus responded to the survey, which consisted of 5 to 9 response items.

According to the survey, the results were shocking. About 60% of the students currently use, or have experience, using illegal sites (Bam-Tokki*, New-Tokki, Buk-Tokki, and so on.) The results of this survey mean that more than half of our neighbors have experience using illegal shared sites.

■ 60% response from experience… "An implicit agreement on the use of illegal sites."

Among the responses, 60 students had experience using illegal sites. And the most significant portion was "because the cost of purchasing webtoons on official sites was a waste," recording 63.3%. Moreover, "because no separate subscription process is required" was 23.3% of the items, and 5%, "because most of the people around them use it." followed the ranking. 

According to the route of contact with the site, 53.3% were "contacted at the recommendation of the surrounding person," and 45% were "discovered through internet surfing." Student A, who responded to the item, "contacted at the recommendation of neighbors," said, "The use of illegal sites is like a silent agreement between users. People around me are easily using them, as well."

To raise the issue of such poor copyright consciousness, the Korea Cartoonist Association and the Korea Webtoon Writers Association have been conducting the Copyright Protection Relay Webtoon Campaign since April this year. The campaign runs a series of webtoons under the slogan "There is nothing free in the world," pointing out that implicitly using illegal sites, since the users think buying the contents is a waste of money, is an unlawful act, following the results of a survey conducted by “Channel PNU.” Park Kwang-Chul (Manager of the illegal distribution response team, Korea Cartoonist Association) said, "If everyone uses illegal webtoon sites widely, it is necessary to recognize that webtoon content that they enjoy for granted can disappear at any time."

■ Illegal sites are the "gateway" to other crimes

Webtoon and web novel writers constantly complain of the pain due to the damage caused by illegal sites. According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, the 2020 webtoon market is worth 1,538 trillion won, with damage from unlawful sites reaching 5,488 billion won. The size of web novels, which have recently been rapidly growing, is estimated at 600 billion won. But as illegal web novel sharing sites have also increased, it is difficult to identify the exact damage. Oh Jung-Ho, a writer publishing webtoons on Naver Webtoon, said, "My work is already spread to illegal sites, so I don't expect much profit."

It is not just the creator's damage problem. The operation of illegal sharing sites is a structure that generates profits through exposure to advertisements, promoting various sex crimes, and illicit gambling. Therefore, the use of unlawful sites not only damages creators, but also helps criminal activity promotion. 39% of the students who participated in the survey were unaware of the above facts. Manager Park said, "The illegal site is used as an entrance to youth online gambling addiction, as an industrial structure with illegal gambling and sex crimes."

■ The "War against Tokki" brought about by the weak punishment of the Bam-Tokki

In 2018, the Busan Metropolitan Police arrested the operator of the "Bam-Tokki," the beginning of activating illegal sites. But it only temporarily slowed down the profits at the time. The number of sharing sites surged from 3 in 2016 to 270 in 2020, as it was known that the "Bam-Tokki'' management team made huge profits compared to the level of punishment it received. They have servers and translation organizations overseas, and when new work is uploaded, it spreads everywhere in less than an hour.

The entertainment industry and the Korea Communications Commission are trying to find a solution to the webtoon and web novel industry suffering from copyright infringements. On August 2nd, Kakao Entertainment conducted a criminal lawsuit against the operators of the new illegal web novel sharing site "Buk-Tokki," the most potent response the industry can make. Naver introduced "Toonrader," a tracking system that uses AI to find people who illegally spread webtoons.

On July 15th, a debate was held at the National Assembly to eradicate the illegal sharing of webtoons, and to discuss measures to prevent the rise of unlawful webtoon sites. At the forum, they suggested the illegal sharing of webtoons is a cybercrime and that substantial punishment of state intervention and cooperation through joining international agreements are needed. Professor Lee Won-Sang (Joseon University, Dept. of Law), who attended the forum, said, "Illegal webtoons are a serious issue that needs to be treated as an international response and serious cybercrime to solve the problem."

■ 45% of students have experience using the site "without awareness of criminal behavior."

Among the survey, most students who answered the subjective question asking the most effective way to eradicate illegal sites pointed out that unlawful site users have low copyright awareness.

They cited personal measures to strengthen copyright awareness. Anonymous participant B said, "The punishment should be strengthened, and we should recognize that the use of illegal sites is an illegal act as a way for us to practice it ourselves."

In the survey, 45% of the 60 students, who had experience using illegal shared sites, said they used the site without being alert. Professor Lee said, "We need to give the perception that using illegal sites is more than just secretly watching webtoons. To eradicate illegal webtoons, we need the efforts of college students, including the MZ generation, who are repositories of intelligence."

Reporter Yoon Da-Gyo

Translated by Shin Ji-Won

*Tokki : This means ‘Rabbit’ in Korean.